Omri Mor & Yosef Gutman - Melodies Of Light (2023)

It is quite rare in a culture and society driven by autocrats, hits, likes, blogs and podcasts, that recordings as ethereal, yet born of the ageless earth, as Melodies of Light come around to release us from the daily ugly.

Spontaneous music of this hypnotic, mysterious beauty and elusive grace give us pause to reflect on where we are, individually and collectively, and to seek a better way. It haunts. It comes at the listener from some timeless shifting of the sands and the seas yet sounds as new, as vital, as now. It is a wonderful feat of human magic.

After recording South African bassist Yosef-Gutman Levitt's Soul Song (Soul Song, 2023) with guitarist Lionel Loueke, (whom mentor Herbie Hancock refers to as a "musical painter"), Melodies of Light was born in the extra studio time as a whispery duo improvisation between Israeli born pianist and composer Omri Mor (Avishai Cohen) and drummer Ofri Nehemya, (Rickie Lee Jones, Shai Maestro, Gilad Hekselman). From there the four men embarked on an intimate musical sojourn of soulful import and wide influence.

Built on thirteen movements of various lengths and guises, all of the world's music can be heard celebrating itself on Melodies of Light. It begins as it should with "Movement One Opening," a pristine hymn of meditation and purpose. "Movement Two Hamotzi" takes shape from its predecessors whispers and the drive for connection in a fractured world takes hold. "Movement Three The Dance" is just that: a rousing quartet percolation wherein each member brings in his rooted past and the creative present.

Each track (a cold, almost unkind word to use given the vulnerability and strength infused into each performance) follows the one before it with an organic simplicity that needs be heard (and listened to again and again) then described. The pacing is perfect as the quiet "Movement Four Hananya" serves as prelude to the vividly paced "Movement Five Jonah's Garden" (Nehemya's percussive sensibilites rise to the fore) as does "Movement Six Before the Rain" delivers us to "Movement Seven Timbuktu" and so on. Four bonus tracks are included, though truth be told they feel as one with Melodies of Light as Melodies of Light is to the soul.