Chip Wickham: Cloud 10

Is it OK for music to be background? In other words, does all music have to be listened to with the same degree of concentration and freedom from distraction? It may be a moot question in these greatly distracted times. Here's another, related question: is the music you want on in the background necessarily inferior to the stuff you need to pay attention to?

This new album from flutist/tenor saxophonist Chip Wickham is in the genre of spiritual jazz kicked off by the late Pharoah Sanders, and it follows a similar trajectory to his 2020 release Blue to Red (Lovemonk, 2020): each tune starts up, usually a simple melody on just one or two chords, and after the solos it finishes. There are no introductions, no bridges, no written endings. It sounds minimalist, and in many ways it is— that's the nature of the genre. But what Wickham succeeds in conjuring up is atmosphere. The idea is not to analyse but to let the music flow over you. As such, Cloud 10 will probably appeal to fans of Sanders, Yusef Lateef, and all those artists who focus not on chord changes or demonstrations of technique but on long, floating lines of melody.

Some of the musicians from his previous album are here again: drummer Jon Scott, bassist Simon Houghton, and harpist Amanda Whiting. Wickham himself plays tenor and flute in roughly equal measure. The instrumentation is perfect for this style of music, all soft ripples and mellow, trippy atmospherics. The sound palette has expanded since the previous album, now including vibes (Ton Risco) and trumpet (Eoin Grace). But it's Whiting's harp that gives the album its distinctive other-worldly vibe, reminding us of Dorothy Ashby's divine 1970 album The Rubaiyat of Dorothy Ashby (Cadet) and hypnotic, spiritual Alice Coltrane tunes like "Journey in Satchidananda." Percussionist Jack McCarthy provides groovy continuity while pianist Phil Wilkinson keeps the harmony appropriately simple.

There is so much to enjoy: "Winter," a slow, drifting flute tune is pure, liquid pleasure. "Tubby Chaser," a fast jazz waltz in honor of British bebop pioneer Tubby Hayes, bounces along with terrific gusto, while "Dark Eyes" evokes a smoky, sexy evening in Old London Town. Cloud 10 is full of lovely tunes, and whether or not you're paying close attention, that is not a quality to be taken for granted.