Luke Norris - Northernsong (2020)

Luke Norris - soprano & tenor saxophones, compositions
Mike Baggetta - guitar
Tyrone Allen - bass
Daniel Sunshine - drums

An album that opens with a vista of an open field where space, patience, and harmony interact in a way that fluid and overwhelmingly concise. A little misleading from the title, “Sketch in C”, but eventually the two melodic instruments coincide while the bass supports sporadically and with percussive ramblings, we hear where this quartet will take us over the course of the rest of the album.

From the use of Baggetta’s use of looping and reversing effects used in a way that’s not interrupting but acts as a fifth member of the group creating soundcloud and textures that give the music a haunting element that’s uncommon in “everyday” jazz music today. Allen’s use of pizzicato we’re accustomed to, but when he switches to arco, the bass also joins this world of the haunted soul, alongside Baggetta’s added textures.

Though this first track seems to “ramble on” (Led Zeppelin reference), there’s no feeling of “yeah, some semi-free jazz cats aimlessly wandering the streets without connection.” This is not that. This has a sense of intrigue and curiosity.