| Jazz |
This album resonates like a return to the 1970s. Those who, like me, have spent hours immersed in the legendary Sweet Smoke, Just a Poke will likely find here a form of cultural continuity. For younger listeners, it will be an uncanny discovery—an experience akin to timeless space travel, shaped by a jazz-fusion aesthetic that owes more to rock than to jazz. Close your eyes, and the images will emerge on their own: a vast, star-strewn galaxy, its black holes and luminous bodies as mesmerizing as they are unsettling. The journey through this album begins now…
Whispering Worlds is an electro-acoustic ensemble bringing together four musicians and two Ableton Live systems to craft a global musical landscape, stretching from deep ambient textures to raga-inspired compositions and interactive experimental jazz. The quartet’s singular sound seamlessly integrates looping, live processing, and sampling, while preserving the hypnotic melodic evolution of Indian raga and the ethereal qualities of Japanese shakuhachi music.
Formed in 2022, the quartet was conceived as a tribute to composer and trumpeter Jon Hassell, debuting at the Festival of New Trumpet Music in New York. Their performance featured new works by Aaron Shragge, inspired by pivotal moments in Hassell’s four decades of musical exploration. The concert was praised by trumpeter, composer, and artistic director Dave Douglas: “Delving deep into the sonic and spiritual worlds of Hassell’s work, Aaron Shragge delivers a heartfelt tribute to the trumpeter and composer. This meditative set is marked by focus and passion, with exquisite and precise playing. A fascinating vision of what the trumpet can do—and become…”
In this realm of improvisational music, creation is a matter of time. Fortunately, in 2023, a residency at the Avaloch Farm Music Institute—supported by a grant from the Mass Cultural Council—allowed the quartet to refine their repertoire with new collective compositions, culminating in the creation of their debut album, Cosmic Cliffs.
For those well-versed in the history of rock and jazz from the 1970s to today, forming an opinion on this album is no easy task. Is it more inspired, more inventive than what came before? Perhaps not. And so, we primarily salute the technical prowess and the dreams of these musicians, all the while questioning the relevance of such artistic endeavors today. Once again, a definitive stance proves elusive. And perhaps that is the album’s greatest achievement: compelling us to reflect—on our place within the vastness of the universe.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
Editor for All About Jazz
PARIS-MOVE, April 3rd 2025
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Musicians: Aaron Shragge – Trumpet, Shakuhachi, Electronics; Luke Schwartz – Guitar, Electronics; Damon Banks – Bass; Deric Dickens – Drums.
Titles: Cosmic Cliffs; Pillars; Vernal Equinox; Seen by the Moon/ Secretly Happy; Light Echoes; Reionization; Reflection Nebula; Crystals; Serpentine Suspension