Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The world of Jazz has arguably never been more accessible and in rude health. Indeed, when compared to other forms of music it is one that whilst adopted by those who loved the anonymity provided by the venues and the once smoky atmosphere, has been recognised as offering the listener something new and novel each time they hear an artist perform a section of music that crosses the boundary between the human and the sense of spiritual excess challenges.
Jazz encourages, and for Nicki Adams and Michael Eaton, the merging of the genre with the classical idea in a third-stream aesthetic is a pleasure of the unexpected divination, a journey of the interwoven mix that feels as though you are hearing the rigour of ferocity of the black hole in space but one audibly engaged with exciting the senses and seeing the veins jump in anticipation.
In arrangements of the greats, including Coltraine and Monk, and through the original response, the piano and saxophone lay down textures and a hard concrete base that holds the structure with complete security, and with a whim of individuality that strokes the forehead of the Muse with impunity and a serious intent, becomes a delight of freedom of expression that only The Transcendental can supply.
On their second album under the Steeplechase Lookout Series the harmony between the two instruments is telling, it is sublimely framed without distraction and is akin in artistic terms to the impressionist painter understanding that they aspire to capturing the frescos on the southern wall of the Sistine Chapel as they lead to an ever-greater appreciation above.
Based on the painting of the same name by Richard Pousette-Dart, the music itself is free, it is the energy of a child in full play, it is the knowledge of the adult at work matching the creativity of the child’s imagination and in the tracks Intrinsic Value, Black Narcissus, Afro Centric, and the weighty and mind-blowing finale of the six-piece album title track of The Transcendental, the album and the players touch the very fibres of the human soul.
A superb set of arrangements and flowing creativity, understandably cool.
Ian D. Hall