Olivier Le Goas & Reciprocity: Onramp Of Heaven Dreams

A blindfolded spin of French drummer Olivier Le Goas & Reciprocity's Onramp Of Heaven Dreams says the spirit of guitarist Pat Metheny is hanging around. The lineup—guitar, piano, bass and drums—mirrors that of Metheny's early ECM Records such as Watercolors (1977) and American Garage (1979), and the disc's title itself nods to Metheny's Offramp (ECM Records,1982). This in the year 2020, when Metheny released a career highlight, From this Place (Nonesuch Records).

Olivier's sound has a clean, sharp-edged fusion atmosphere which is rhythmically and harmonically adventurous. The pulse moves through complex time signatures. The melding of guitar and piano seems to fashion an entirely new instrumental hybrid. It is an all-star session, with guitarist Nir Felder's expansive, glowing sustain, pianist John Escreet's eloquence and bassist Larry Grenadier's solid foundations coming together in a mini-orchestral way.

The set opens with "Realize," one of nine Le Goas originals, a surging, well-oiled, highly-refined mechanism crafting a densely textured sound. "Life Size Dreams" (another Metheny nod) has a more pastoral feel, featuring superb soloing by Escreet and Felder inside a surging rhythm. "Highway Dreams" shows the group's balladic acumen—a beautiful, introspective piece, with bassist Grenadier going arco on the opening, giving way to Felder's graceful, patient guitar turn, on the loveliest tune of the disc.

The set wraps up with the only non Le Goas original, Paul Simon's "So Long Frank Lloyd Wright," with Felder bringing up memories of Wes Montgomery's sound on the Creed Taylor-produced A Day In The Life (A&M/CTI, 1967), a gorgeous and captivating way to close the show.