Jim Hart and Cloudmakers Trio - A Drop of Hope in the Ocean of Uncertainty (2024) [Hi-Res]

In 2009 Jim Hart first came together with Michael Janisch and Dave Smith to create Cloudmakers Trio. Since then their powerfully original vision has grown and sustained an international touring career, keeping them at the forefront of contemporary instrumental music in an exciting, horizon-spanning space where jazz, European improvisation, rock and global beats co-exist in an ever-shifting skyscape of creativity. Through all their various collaborations, the vibes-bass-drums trio has remained the core of the Cloudmakers sound. Now, fifteen years after their inception, the concept has come full circle with the inclusion of a new collaborator, the Grammy-winning Argentinian piano master Leo Genovese, already a veteran of the bands of Esperanza Spalding, Jack DeJohnette, and Wayne Shorter. Jim and Leo met three years running at the Bezau Beats festival in Austria: a mutual respect developed, a collaboration was proposed and Jim wrote a set of pieces for the quartet .“I formed Cloudmakers as a response to the ubiquitous piano trio – trying to give myself space. But I love the sound of piano and vibes, so when we met Leo it felt like it was finally time to close the loop. He plays at the highest level – he’s a very complete musician.” The quartet went into the fabled Abbey Road Studio 3 to record with legendary engineer Sam Okell: A Drop Of Hope In The Ocean Of Uncertainty is the result, the utterly assured, compelling sound of a meeting of musical masters.

Leo’s horizon-spanning range of musical collaborators, including left-field rockers Mars Volta and Puerto Rican Hip Hop superstar Residente, feeds into his polyglot musicality that merges perfectly with the Cloudmakers. His association with Wayne Shorter was a particular inspiration for Jim Hart. “Wayne is very present on this album for me – I’d been spending a lot of time with his music and knowing that Leo was so close to Wayne was an influential factor.”

The album title was carefully chosen “The overall message is that we live in a turbulent world, and we as artists can’t do much to change anything, but we can offer positive energy and hope – a drop in the ocean, but hopefully it has some value.” Opening track ‘Winds Oof Change’ was inspired by Jim’s childhood by the Cornish coast, with Leo adding virtuosic classical flourishes to the Weather Report inspired form. ‘Voodoo Grave’ is a near-anagram of ‘Dave’s Groove’ – a Caribbean derived rhythmic figure that mutates into a New Orleans shuffle. ‘Back From the Brink’ hovers on the edge of chaos “Somehow we make it back, as we always do,” while by contrast ‘The Silver Lining’ leans into Michael Janisch’s American jazz roots with a driving swing spiced with some metric stretching from Dave Smith. ‘True At The Same Time’ continues the theme of rhythmic modulation, with multiple meters all co-existing in an equal space. Electric bass, Prophet 6 synth, electronic percussion and prepared vibes give ‘Where There’s a Will’ a set of new textures – “It’s a pop tune – in 11/8” – and ‘Quick Fix’ lightens the mood with a quasi-Latin groove – “think of Ornette Coleman meets Hermeto Pascoal.” ‘Dearly Departed’ is a ballad tribute to Wayne Shorter, leading to the album closer – ‘New Beginnings’ – a reference to the fresh partnership with Leo.

Jim says: “Leo has this amazing freedom about the way he plays – a lot of the music is quite complex but we strive to be very free and create abstract textures within things that are rhythmically complex and Leo is a master of that. He understood the music immediately.”

In Leo’s own words “To play this music, you have to figure out whether to jump. And then you jump. And you realize that not only can you fly over the whole city, but also every door in the city is open to you.”