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Linda Oh: Sun Pictures
ByComprising entirely of Oh originals, Sun Pictures is an album of achingly fragile beauty and warm mellifluousness. The enthralling "Shutterspeed Dreams" opens the disc with guitarist James Muller's undulating notes. Together with Oh's subtly percussive strings and drummer Ted Poor's rumbling beats, the ensemble creates a nostalgic and mesmerizing ambiance.
Within this intensely atmospheric framework the music evolves with stimulating intricacy. On "Polyphonic HMI," saxophonist Ben Wendel's passionate, vibrato-filled tenor flows effortlessly out of the main theme. His delightfully meandering and elegiac solo fades back into the melody with equal facility. His band mates' supportive rhythmic structures embellish and enhance the tune's cinematic feel.
A dramatic yet intimate feel permeates tracks like "Blue Over Gold," which opens with a hypnotic dancing refrain and features Oh's sublime pizzicato and dark and heady improvisation. Muller's electrifying, muscular guitar has both a soulful swagger and elegant complexity, while Poor's restlessly driving drums bring a rock sensibility to this exquisitely constructed piece.
This intriguing spontaneous creativity is not limited to the individual musicians, but is deftly woven around the compositions by compelling exchanges and group play. Shimmering and cascading tones of the guitar and sax duet characterize the laidback ballad, "Terminal 3." Poor's sparse thuds and cymbals, together with Muller's carefully scattered strums enhance the hypnotic aura that envelopes Oh's agile bass lines. Against this faintly mystical background her elaborate instrumentation unfolds with keen lyricism and ardent poetry.
Sun Pictures is Oh's most accomplished work to date. These beguiling pastel-colored sonic images form a single, thematically unified, multilayered and absorbing opus. The seamless blend of the extemporized and the pre-written, the captivating harmonies and the high caliber musicianship make for an enticing listening experience.
Track Listing
Shutterspeed Dreams; Polyphonic HMI; Footfall; Blue Over Gold; Yoda; Terminal 3; 10 Minutes Till Closing.
Personnel
Linda May Han Oh
bassLinda Oh: bass; Ben Wendel: saxophone; James Muller: guitar; Ted Poor: drums.
Album information
Title: Sun Pictures | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Greenleaf Music