Riki Piripi

Lucien Johnson: Wax///Wane

by Geno Thackara
July 3, 2021

While Lucien Johnson is a dab hand at playing and composing, he is even more skilled at weaving a piece of music. Flow and dynamics are the specialties he displays most here, sketching out a series of groove patterns, and smoothly guiding an eclectic quintet as they ride through the ebbs and swells. Wax///Wane is not just a poetic title, it is a mantra to which he commits in every way during this beguilingly evocative half-hour-plus set. Based ...