
The first track, Harmony with Nature, opens with a soothing wholly improvised sound that so evokes the sound of waterfalls in the forest that at first it is difficult to be sure that the track doesn’t feature samples from jungle field recordings. The single taken from the album, Joyful Spirits of the Universe, has a title very like those associated with Alice Coltrane, and like her music nicely intertwines the harp with the other instruments. The third track, Canopy & Stars, opens with Herbert’s harp but later gives way to a steady rhythm over which equal weight is given to Cliffe’s tenor saxophone and Halsall’s trumpet. The short restful Mindfulness Meditations again invokes the waterfall sounds that open the album and reminds the listener of Halsall’s spiritual inspirations and aspirations.
The album returns to the rhythm with Tropical Landscapes that is propelled as much by Barras’ bass as it is by Halsall’s trumpet and takes its inspiration from the richly coloured paintings of exotic places by Henri Rousseau, Peter Doig and Paul Gauguin. Lest the listener lose sight of Halsall’s interest in how Alice Coltrane wove a profound sense of spirituality and faith into her compositions, the title track Salute to the Sun opens with a solo from harpist Maddie Herbert and is in part a tribute to the Maharishi School where Halsall studied. The album closes with The Energy of Life which has a good solid rhythm over which Cliffe plays flute with solid accompaniment from Gheorghe on piano.
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There is a depth and space to the sound to Salute to the Sun – fine work here by sound mixer George Atkins and engineer Peter Beckmann. The musicians play as a tight unit where the improvisation is organic and never self-indulgent. This is another excellent release from Matthew Halsall in which the music is bright, warm and immediately enjoyable and has space for both spiritual yearning and memorable melody and rhythm.
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