Natalie Rose LeBrecht: Mandarava Rose
Galtta

Ron Thomas and John Swana: Serenity
Galtta

Two recent cassette releases from the always interesting Brooklyn-based Galtta label, the first a soundscapes-styled set by two Philadelphia-based musicians, keyboardist Ron Thomas and E.V.I. player John Swana, the second a transporting foray into psychedelic entrancement by Natalie Rose LeBrecht.

Issued in an edition of 125 copies, Serenity, the third recording by the duo, presents four immersive and synthesizer-heavy soundscapes. Swana originally made a name for himself as a jazz trumpeter-slash-flügelhornist until a benign tumor forced him to take up other instruments, the E.V.I. (Electronic Valve Instrument) among them. Thomas likewise brings an interesting background to their collaboration, the pianist having played, for example, with Pat Martino and studied with Stockhausen in the ‘70s. Serenity has very little to do with jazz, however, a fact made clear when “Message” inaugurates the thirty-five-minute set with synth whooshes and sweeping atmospherics. Given the details about the release, one might expect its sound to present a clear juxtaposition between Swana's and Thomas's instruments; in fact, little separates the two when their E.V.I. and keyboards blend into a trippy mass of spacey swirls and sequencer-like pulses.

More galaxial New Age than jazz, “Message” burbles buoyantly for ten minutes before giving way to “Rainforest,” an aptly titled solo excursion by Thomas into a humid zone populated by all manner of chirping creatures and environmental noises. More interplanetary travel awaits on side B, the twelve-minute colossus “Foundation” first sending us to the unsettling outer reaches where stillness reigns, whooshes dazzle, and reverberations of inestimable enormity make the shuttle shake, after which the ambient-styled title track soothes with a less frazzling meditation, all sparkling synth glissandos and meandering bass figures.

The largely self-taught Natalie Rose LeBrecht (a couple of years were spent working for and studying under LaMonte Young) has spent the years since 2016 exploring “extraordinary interdimensional spheres” (her words). In light of that, it wouldn't be wrong to broach the fifty-four-minute Mandarava Rose as a physical manifestation of that inner experience. The project's spiritual dimension even brings Alice Coltrane into the picture, LeBrecht having dedicated the opening piece, “Rishi Stars,” to Turiyasangitananda, Coltrane's spiritual name.

To help realize the project, LeBrecht invited Martin Bisi and David Lackner aboard, the former to engineer and co-produce and the latter to augment her pianos, organ, and vocals with flute, saxophones, bells, and synthesizer. Instrumentally, the recording satisfies, especially when her billowing keyboard runs are joined by woodwinds and bells, and the music rises and falls dreamily in a manner true to the meditative, somewhat zoned-out character of the project. It's LeBrecht's singing that I suspect could be the deal-breaker for some. When multiplied into a hushed choir, her husky voice is effective (see “Rishi Stars”); there are times, however, during the eleven-minute “Rosebud & Lotus” when its wobble might leave you queasy. Stated otherwise, her singing definitely has personality, but it's also something of an acquired taste.

Thankfully, the compositions and the instrumental performances are compelling enough to largely counter reservations about the vocalizing. And don't get the wrong impression: many a piece isn't compromised by the singing. Intoning as an angelic mini-choir, it blends well with keyboards and woodwinds during the entrancing “Ocean of Ah” and dirge “In the Beginning.” It's even possible to hear a little bit of Julee Cruise and the Twin Peaks universe seeping from Mandarava Rose, during the closing “Hear Today,” for instance. With LeBrecht's piano sprinkling these weird, organ- and woodwinds-slathered New Age drones like some bizarre riff on Lawrence Welk, Mandarava Rose sounds like few other recordings out there, which, some would argue, legitimizes the release's existence all by itself.

September 2019