The Californian avant gardist continues his long association with Nels and Alex Cline. Although some have found the violinist's approach to be too amiable and soft-centred, nothing featuring the Cline brothers could ever be straight ahead, and here there's a strong core to Gauthier's melodicism -- even in the most lyrical grooves, which show a predilection for waltz and 6/8 time. The title track is the most ambitious at 18 minutes, referring to half-remembered themes in a dreamscape; Nels Cline's "The Fools" is elegiac, while "Enfant" is a free improvisation spun from the Ornette Coleman composition of that title. A beautiful release.
The wire
April 2, 2002
