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Mark Wingfield - Wingfield, Reuter, Stavi, Sirkis: The Stone House CD (album) cover

WINGFIELD, REUTER, STAVI, SIRKIS: THE STONE HOUSE

Mark Wingfield

 

Jazz Rock/Fusion

4.00 | 4 ratings

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memowakeman
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Review originally posted at www.therocktologist.com

This is one of those different albums created by some magical minds that decided to gather together in order to reach complete freedom and find a complement of their tastes, in one single day at the studio. Four musicians from the Moonjune Family spent a day at Spain, united forces and decided to do this album entitled The Stone House, which consists simply in six different improvisations that were recorded one day, while playing without a script, no previous compositions nor rehearsals, so this is the result of a moment of empathy and wizardry in which guitar monsters Mark Wingfield and Markus Stauss, shared affinities with extraordinary bass player Yaron Stavi and awesome drummer Asaf Sirkis.

"Rush" opens the album, it is a 12-minute trip in which we will find from atmospheric sounds, Crimsonian-motifs and rock elements, to jazzy nuances, psych hints and of course, some electronic textures. What the four musicians use to play on their personal projects can be found here, creating a extraordinary amalgam that let us know how capable they are to adapt to each other's likes. The piece never sounds uneven, and all of the musicians have their shot at some moment; no selfishness here. "Four Moons" is the shortest impro here. The guys delight us with a kind of atmospheric tension that naturally flows. There are some prog hints here and spacey atmospheres, but this time Wingfield's guitar is what more attracted my attention.

"Silver" is one of my preferred pieces, I like how dynamic it is and how well they get along, seems they had been working together for years, actually it sounds like a real composition, so go figure. Didn't find it east to categorize, however, I think prog rock and jazz fusion fans would be pleased with this song and album. No boundaries can be found here, all of the musicians seem to be comfortable with what they do, which is why the music has some crescendos and climax, despite being an improvisation. Amazing! "Fjords de Catalunya" brings the words ambient and experimental to my mind. It is a softer track but a bit darker at the same time, there are some quiet moments, maybe relaxing, but ironically, maybe disturbing. I imagine the musicians having a moment of introspection, playing with eyes closed and taking a deep breath.

With "Tarasque" drums play with several figures, producing a kind of nervous sound that is nicely contrasted by soundscapes and guitars. The bass plays some fast notes that in moments sound as nervous as the drums, like chaotic passages in which one does not know what will happen next. The last minutes are strange, some noises and the improvisation simply vanishes. The album finishes with "Bona Nit Seņor Rovira", which happens to be the longest track. Bass and drums mark the rhythm while guitars put the riffs and the atmospheres. The minutes pass and seem to be a new chaotic passage in which all of them share heavy sounds but then, all of a sudden it calms down and starts again. Calm for some seconds but explosive for most of the moments. The musicians are having fun, playing a nice game of improvisations, but they all are responsible of giving the listener quality sounds and forms, and believe me, they know how to do it. This final track has lots of changes, but I assure your attention will never be lost.

A very good album! This is a nice way to show how 4 minds can create interesting improvisations.

Enjoy it!

memowakeman | 4/5 |

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