QITARA

Sometime approximately a million years ago, Johannes contacted me to let me know about his band Moth Vellum. These days he is probably more well-known for being in Perfect Beings, but somehow he has also found time to release his second solo album only five years after the first. Now, I was a big fan of that when it was released, so was intrigued to hear what the new one was going to be like, so somehow managed to delete the files he sent me and it was only months later that I realised that I hadn't reviewed the album back in October when I meant to! So, here we are on the last day of March, and I am finally sitting down to put some words against what this album actually means.

This is a long way from what I would normally expect to hear from Johannes, either solo or in a band format, as here he has gone back to his roots, as apparently he grew up with the Canterbury sound. His father, an avid jazz lover, turned him on to George Duke and John Abercrombie, and these two heroes of Johannes' are honoured with the cover tracks "Faces in Reflection" and "Red and Orange". Again, this album is mostly instrumental, but there are some vocals, which do include one Ryan Downe, so two members of Moth Vellum are back together again. This is an album that has been heavily influenced by fusion, and also world music, so much so that one never knows what the next track is going to bring. This is a real voyage, as one moves through the music with Johannes as a guide, sometimes playing acoustic, sometimes electric, sometimes driving the music forward and sometimes letting the brass take the lead. This is incredibly eclectic, yet it all somehow makes sense as well. It is one of the most deep, reflective, and energising albums I have been lucky enough to come across, and yet again shows what an incredible force he can be.

I doubt that very few will be lucky enough to come across this album, but those who are that fortunate will all agree that this a real gem, something very special indeed.