Monday, May 24, 2021

Landon Caldwell & Flower Head Ensemble - Simultaneous Systems (2021 Moon Glyph)

Landon Caldwell & Flower Head Ensemble blur the line between improvisation and composition on their debut album, “Simultaneous Systems”. Recorded remotely in Indianapolis, Asheville, Chicago and San Francisco, all players recorded improvisations to a morphing tone independent of the others. Those takes were compiled and arranged by bandleader Caldwell with intuition as a guide. The result is a stunning spiritual jazz album for the contemporary era, melding shimmering ambience alongside ecstatic free flowing spontaneity. The project brings together Mac Blackout and Tom Lageveen on alto sax, Nick Yeck-Stauffer on trumpet, K. Dylan Edrich on strings, Mark Tester on vibes/synth, Thom Nguyen on drums/percussion and Landon Caldwell on electric piano, organ, synth, voice and pan pipes. It’s a powerful debut befit of the times.

1. Reaching Out 21:36
2. Life Underground 10:17
3. Woven Realm 12:14

Landon Caldwell (Indianapolis) - Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer, Voice, Pan Pipes
Thom Nguyen (Asheville) - Drums/Percussion
Mark Tester (Indianapolis) - Vibraphone, Moog Prodigy
K. Dylan Edrich (San Francisco) - Strings
Nick Yeck-Stauffer (Chicago) - Trumpet
Tom Lageveen (Indianapolis) - Alto Saxophone
Mac Blackout (Chicago) - Alto Saxophone