Jeff Kaiser & Paul L. Botelho: Dome

Recorded in an abandoned munitions factory in Alvira, PA. using an ambisonics system without overdubs. The collaborative effort between vocalist and multimedia artist/educator Paul J. Botelho and avant-garde trumpeter/educator Jeff Kaiser push against the boundaries of conventional sound, creating an experience that redefines the relationship between voice and brass. The marketing text for this album states: "What you hear is voice, trumpet, space, and environment." Indeed, each component is a vital participant.

This is an EP clocking in at 30 minutes with two extended works aptly titled "For Alvira, Part I" and "For Alvira, Part II." The opening of "Part I" wastes no time establishing the album's otherworldly intentions. Botelho's wordless vocals sweep through impossible registers and calming spiritual methodologies while Kaiser's trumpet responds with haunting declarations that sound like a brass section in an existential breakdown. The effect proves both unsettling and oddly hypnotic.

The duo demonstrates remarkable synchronicity throughout where Botelho's voice transforms from monastic chant to alien transmission within the span of a breath. Kaiser answers each vocal provocation with trumpet phrases that seem to bend both time and physics.

Throughout "DOME," the performers navigate their unconventional soundscape with the confidence of seasoned explorers. Botelho stretches the human voice beyond recognition, producing tones that would make Yoko Ono sound like a folk singer. Meanwhile, Kaiser approaches his trumpet as if traditional playing techniques were merely polite suggestions via his extended notes, coupled with a warm and resonating delivery. Indeed, the old munitions factory is an organic studio, where notes embark on a trip to eternity. Yet within its challenging framework, DOME achieves moments of startling beauty -albeit the kind of beauty one might find in electron microscope photographs or deep space telescope images.

For those brave enough to venture into these sonic territories, DOME offers a rewarding journey. It stands as proof that the human voice and trumpet still harbor unexplored possibilities—even if exploring them sounds like a conversation between a multidimensional being and a brass instrument achieving consciousness.

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