Yelena Eckemoff: In The Shadow Of A Cloud

Following her successful quintet outing, Blooming Tall Phlox, pianist Yelena Eckemoff retains the ensemble's name while quietly reshaping its interior life, recalibrating the personnel for another generous two-disc statement. Joined this time by Chris Potter on reeds and flute, Adam Rogers on electric guitar, Drew Gress on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, Eckemoff unfurls a map of 14 new compositions that trace some of her most fluid and contemplative terrain yet. These pieces feel resolutely discovered, as though uncovered through careful listening to place, memory, and the gentle rituals that hold a community together.

The title track opens with the soulful grain of Potter's tenor, a voice that feels immediately human, before the piano enters and begins to bloom alongside bass and drums. Rogers' electric guitar weaves its way through the ensemble with quiet assurance, never calling attention to itself yet altering the atmosphere with each touch. The mood is tender and unhurried, pastoral in spirit but rich with inward motion. There is a sense of embarking on a journey that measures distance not in miles but in emotional passage, as if the music were carrying the listener across years rather than landscapes. One hears not a single moment but an accumulation of days, seasons, and shared histories gathering into sound.

That feeling carries forward into "Saratovsky Bridge," where movement becomes communal. Here, the melody suggests a crossing not only from one place to another, but from the private interior into the shared rhythms of rural life. Time loosens its grip, flowing at a pace determined by human presence rather than clocks. The longer one lingers within this music, the clearer it becomes that an entire social fabric thrives here. In the steady commerce of "Fishing Village," labor unfolds with dignity and purpose, while "On the Motorboat" pulses with urgency, a reminder that even the quietest places contain momentum and necessity. Eckemoff's writing never romanticizes these moments, allowing them instead to breathe as facts of daily existence.

Much of the album is rooted in geography, though never confined by it. "Waters of Tsna River" offers a luminous setting for Potter's flute, its tone clear and open. "Trail Along the River" becomes a meeting ground for piano and guitar, their interplay tracing paths that feel worn by generations of footsteps. "Tambov Streets on a Summer Night" glistens with farewell energy, warmth accumulating as dusk settles and conversations linger. Each piece feels like a chapter in an unwritten chronicle, attentive to how places retain echoes of those who pass through them.

Other compositions turn toward objects, stories, and shared moments. "Acorn Figurines" finds meaning in the handmade and the small, while "Hammock Stories" drifts through imagination and recollection, ideas passing easily between voices. "Picnic in the Oaks" captures camaraderie without sentimentality. Rogers's guitar leads with gentle authority, coaxing angular responses from Eckemoff's piano, while Gress' bass speaks with flexibility and warmth. These pleasures are never overstated. They are allowed to settle naturally, part of the slow fermentation of everyday living.

"Waltz of the Yellow Petals" stands as one of the album's many quiet revelations. Eckemoff's left hand lays down graceful arpeggios while her right hand wanders freely, guided by curiosity rather than destination. Potter's soprano rises with clarity and poise, supported by a rhythm section that listens as intently as it plays. Rogers finds lift in this environment, following the land's contours through his phrasing. The piece eventually opens into liberated interplay. Its distant relative, "Lament," turns inward, shaping arcs of sound that feel illuminated from within.

Potter's bass clarinet emerges in "Vision of a Hunt," grounding the ensemble in earthier tones and forward motion. The music moves with purpose, animated by instinct and shared attention, before dissolving into "The Fog," a serpentine soprano feature that obscures edges and softens certainty. Here, clarity gives way to atmosphere, and the listener is invited to trust sensation over definition.

By the album's close, In the Shadow of a Cloud has become more than a collection of compositions. It stands as a living village, populated by voices that know when to speak and when to listen, bound together by respect for place and time. Eckemoff's music does not seek grandeur through volume or velocity. Its power lies in accumulation, in the steady layering of moments until a world emerges. As the final notes fade, one is left with the sense of having passed through a landscape shaped by human care, where memory lingers in the air and the path forward remains open, waiting patiently for the next traveler to arrive.

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