| Folk-Rock, Pop, Prog' Rock |
Some albums are built around songs. Others revolve around instrumental virtuosity. Tunnel to the Moon, an exciting project by the adventurous collective Madre Vaca (mother cow), belongs to a far rarer category: it is conceived as a complete artistic journey, where music, literature, chamber music, pop-rock, folk, modern jazz, and sonic storytelling become inseparable.
The result is one of the most original and imaginative recordings to emerge in recent years, an album that invites the listener not merely to hear sixteen tracks, but to travel through an ever-changing landscape of emotions, images, and ideas.
Madre Vaca describes its artistic mission as an exploration of “the intersection of modern improvisation, classical architecture, and literary narrative“. It is an ambitious statement, but Tunnel to the Moon fulfils that promise with remarkable conviction.
At the heart of the project stands Benjamin Shorstein, founder and artistic director of Madre Vaca Records. A composer, percussionist, pianist, and musical visionary based in Jacksonville, Florida, Shorstein has steadily developed an artistic universe that resists categorization. His previous large-scale projects, Winterreise, a fascinating reimagining of Schubert’s Romantic masterpiece, Knights of the Round Table, inspired by medieval legends, and Fairy Tales, a contemporary song cycle, already revealed his passion for combining narrative and music. Tunnel to the Moon feels like the natural continuation of that journey, perhaps its most ambitious chapter to date. A concept album reminiscent of Rick Wakeman’s cult albums such as “Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table” and “Lisztomania”.
Shorstein’s artistic philosophy is especially compelling as every carefully constructed passage seems to leave space for spontaneity. Around him, Madre Vaca has assembled an extraordinary collective of musicians and singers whose diversity becomes one of the album’s greatest strengths.
The quartet that forms the ensemble’s musical core is impressive:
Jonah Pierre, at the piano, provides both harmonic elegance and rhythmic vitality. His playing moves effortlessly between classical refinement, soft pop-rock, prog’ rock and modern jazz language, creating a foundation upon which the rest of the ensemble flourishes.
Guitarist Jarrett Carter contributes an endlessly inventive palette of colours. Sometimes lyrical, sometimes angular, his guitar frequently serves as a bridge between the album’s many stylistic worlds.
Bassist Thomas Milovac, the true backbone of the ensemble comprising all the musicians in this project, lends the music remarkable stability and warmth. His rich tone anchors even the most adventurous passages while allowing the music to breathe naturally.
Benjamin Shorstein himself appears not only as composer and percussionist but also as vocalist. His multiple roles perfectly embody the album’s multidisciplinary spirit.
Around this central quartet revolves an impressive constellation of collaborators.
The vocal contributions of Charlie Shuck, Rebecca Shorstein, and Monica Pasquini bring remarkable expressive variety to the narrative. Sometimes they function as individual storytellers; elsewhere they become almost another instrumental section, their voices blending into the larger orchestral texture.
Drummer Milan Algood and percussionist Carlos Rodriguez greatly expand the rhythmic vocabulary of the album. Rodriguez’s congas, bongos, and maracas also add rich Latin colours, while Shorstein’s extensive percussion arsenal, frame drum, suspended cymbal, Chinese crash cymbals, gongs, elephant bells, triangle, and more, creates an astonishing variety of sonic landscapes. Even Jonah Pierre and Charlie Shuck join the percussive world through the use of elephant bells and other instruments, making rhythm a truly collective experience.
The instrumental palette is further enriched by Lance Reed‘s eloquent trombone, Molly Sweet‘s wonderfully expressive clarinet, and Abigail Gruber, whose violin and viola lend the music a chamber-like elegance that perfectly complements the subtle and infinite sensations of jazz.
What is perhaps most remarkable is how naturally all these musicians coexist. With so many performers involved, one might expect an overloaded or fragmented sound. Instead, every contribution feels perfectly judged. Each musician enters the musical conversation precisely when needed, always serving the larger narrative.
The sixteen tracks unfold almost like chapters in an illustrated novel.
The two opening movements, “Sensate Sentences – Part I” and “Part II“, immediately establish the album’s narrative ambition. Richly layered and highly atmospheric, they introduce many of the musical ideas that will gradually evolve throughout the recording.
“March of the Elephants” is one of the album’s most imaginative pieces. The unusual percussion, particularly the elephant bells, creates an almost ceremonial procession, while the ensemble gradually transforms the march into something both majestic and dreamlike.
The intriguingly titled “Wolfgang’s Crater” feels almost cinematic in its constantly shifting perspectives. The miniature portraits “The Ant” and “The Wasp” display the ensemble’s playful imagination. Finally, “The Final Words of Earth” and “One Story Ending, Another Just Begun” provide a profoundly satisfying conclusion. Rather than offering definitive answers, they suggest continuity, renewal, and the endless cycle of storytelling itself. It is an ending that feels less like a conclusion than an invitation to begin the journey again.
Throughout Tunnel to the Moon, one senses Benjamin Shorstein’s remarkable ability to think simultaneously as composer, improviser, dramatist, and producer. His vision extends beyond individual compositions toward the creation of a complete artistic experience.
The recording itself beautifully captures the richness of the ensemble. Every instrument occupies its own acoustic space while remaining fully integrated into the collective sound. The balance between intimacy and grandeur is exemplary, allowing the listener to appreciate both the smallest percussive detail and the broadest orchestral textures.
In an era when many albums are designed for instant consumption, Tunnel to the Moon rewards patience and repeated listening. Each return reveals new details, hidden relationships, subtle orchestrations, and fresh emotional perspectives.
Madre Vaca has created something genuinely distinctive: an album that stimulates the imagination as much as the ear, inviting us to experience music not simply as entertainment but as narrative, architecture, and exploration.
Tunnel to the Moon is an extraordinary artistic achievement, bold, imaginative, deeply musical, and refreshingly impossible to classify. Benjamin Shorstein and his remarkable collective have produced a work that reminds us, just as Rick Wakeman had done with his cult-status album Journey to the Center of the Earth, that the greatest journeys often begin by daring to leave familiar territory behind. I bet that Tunnel to the Moon will also become a cult album over time.
A fascinating, beautifully crafted recording that deserves to be heard with the same attention and curiosity with which it was conceived.
Frankie Pfeiffer
Editor in chief – PARIS-MOVE
PARIS-MOVE, July 2nd, 2026
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Tracklist:
- Sensate Sentences – Part I
- Sensate Sentences – Part II
- March of the Elephants
- To the Tunnel
- Wolfgang’s Crater
- The Ant
- The Wasp
- Billions and Billions
- Triangles
- Long Live the Fighters
- The Morning is Holy
- The Source
- The Sacrifice
- The Sermon by the Sea
- The Final Words of Earth
- One Story Ending, Another Just Begun
Musicians:
Charlie Shuck – Voice
Rebecca Shorstein – Voice
Monica Pasquini – Voice
Benjamin Shorstein – Voice
Jarrett Carter – Guitars
Jonah Pierre – Piano, Keyboards
Thomas Milovac – Upright and Electric Bass
Milan Algood – Drums
Carlos Rodriguez – Percussion
Lance Reed – Trombone
Molly Sweet – Clarinet
Abigail Gruber – Violin and Viola
Percussion:
Jonah Pierre – Elephant Bells, Shakers, Glockenspiel
Carlos Rodriguez – Congas, Bongos, Maracas
Benjamin Shorstein – Suspended Cymbal, Frame Drum, Chinese Crash Cymbals, Gongs, Elephant Bells, Triangle
Charlie Shuck – Elephant Bells
Words by Charlie Shuck
Music by Benjamin Shorstein
Performed by Madre Vaca
Album art and design – Andre Gruber
Recording Engineers – Dan Moore, JeanCarlo Mendez, John Medico
Mixing – Jeff Citron
Mastering – Alex DeTurk