George Haslam - Loveland (2021)

Recorded in concert about a decade back at the Rybanarugy in Prague, leader George Haslam plays the beefy baritone sax and the exotic taragoto with his flexible team of Stefano Pastor on electric violin and kalimba, keyboardist Jan Faix, bassist Jozef Laska and drummer Jan Sikl. The team creates rich and thoughtful moods, sort of like if King Crimson of Soft Machine had some dark reeds or strings attached.

Haslam’s taragoto creates an otherworldly mood on the solo intro to “Waiting” before Laska’s electric bass starts a free form swirl of sounds that is stirred by Faix’s synthesizer spoon. Laska introduces “Landing” with some wondrous electric tones with third world travels contributed by Pastor’s kalimba as the team floats like a desert sand storm. Mourning tones and conversant violin work makes for a gentle “Loveland” while a palpable baritone reaches deep into magma along with dreamy synthesized textures pulsated by Sikl on the impressionistic “Whither Tomorrow”. Audible impressions with many colors and textures