Astral Plains instantly connects the physical plains that have inspired its songs and the metaphysical plane its languid and delicately paced arrangements conjure.
I’ve been thinking about the existence of the astral plane a lot lately. After eighteen criminally short years, I had to say goodbye to my beloved cat, Rufus. It’s been comforting to think that as he crossed planes into whatever existence looks like after death, the soul of my other cat and his best friend, Tai Chi, was waiting to welcome him. I’ve also been listening to Peace Flag Ensemble’s sophomore album, Astral Plains, a lot lately. The Saskatchewan-based collective’s latest is resplendent in its widescale free jazz, bridging the divide between improvisation and composition.
Peace Flag Ensemble takes inspiration from the plains of their home province, both a physical and metaphysical plane that is too often thought of as a means of getting from one destination to another. Astral Plains compels listeners to linger in its languid and delicately paced arrangements. At the core, pianist Jon Neher and bassist Travis Packer cultivate the soil into which sound experimentalist Michael Scott Dawson (once again serving as producer as he did on their debut, Noteland) sprinkles the seeds that give these subtle songs lushness and depth. Songs like opener “The Work” and “You Can’t Pin Joy Like A Moth” are nourished by splashes of brass courtesy of saxophonists Paul Guitheil and Patrick Shiroishi and trumpeters Dalton Lam and Nick Walters.
Continuing Conversations
Peace Flag Ensemble’s 2021 debut is a note-perfect collection of sketches and sonic scenes that challenge perceptions of what jazz is and what it could be.
Never showy or rushed, “Shamble On” shakes the sleep from its eyes in much the same way my two dearly departed feline friends did every morning: one eye at a time, only stirring as much as necessary before extending their limbs and opening their gaping mouth for a simultaneous stretch and yawn before gingerly getting up on their feet and strolling to find whatever they could get up to for the day. Maybe it’s lounging in the sunshine and saxophone-lit rays of “Waiting is my Favourite Colour” or creating a brief bout of chaos and cacophony like the percussion-powered “Love Notes (For Eli).” Either way, listening to Astral Plains instantly connects me to the physical plains that have inspired its songs (a place I have never visited) and the metaphysical plane it conjures up (a place I have no plans on visiting any time soon).
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