NOCTURNE

"Nocturne" is the second album by North Carolina's OZONE QUARTET. The band's instrumental music features atmospheric, and playful, interplay between Chapman Stick, violin, and guitar. These guys tend to be compared to BOUD DEUN quite alot, but the music here never gets that complex. The strongest influence seems to be Tony Levin-era KING CRIMSON, if you can imagine that they also had a violin player at the time.

Yet OZONE QUARTET's guitarist doesn't seem influenced by Robert FRIPP. One noticeable difference on this album compared to the first album is the inclusion of vintage-sounding keyboards on some of the tracks. These include Moog-like bubbling, and Hammond B3 chords. Nothing dramatically different, but fans of the first album will take notice. Some of my favorite tracks include "Backbone Of Night" which features Middle-Eastern percussion, and scales. And "Diamond Eye" which has a section featuring some quick flurries of notes from the Chapman Stick.