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Reviews

John Gregorius — Communion
(Wayfarer Records No #, 2024, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-10-10

Communion Cover art

As producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist, Gregorius has been releasing music as a solo artist since the early 2000s, first as an independent artist (his independent debut Heaven and Earth was re-released by Spotted Peccary the following year), then after three more releases on Spotted Peccary, including the amazing In Awe, he seems to have moved to Wayfarer Records, where he has had a hand in producing many of their artists, including Ambiente Solstice, Eleon, and others. Communion is Gregorius’ first solo recording for Wayfarer, in that he composed, produced, mixed and performed every note on the nine tracks, with the exception of some additional fretless bass by Sean O‘Bryan Smith; that would include acoustic and electric guitars, piano, synthesizers, software instruments, and percussion. The album opens with the gently melodic powerhouse that is the title track, full of emotion and beauty, eventually giving way to “Exaltation,” a dreamy piece that grows with intensity over its four-minute duration. In an earlier decade, this sort of instrumental music might have been given the ‘New Age’ tag, though forty-plus years on I’m still not clear on what exactly that tag denotes, other that some poorly lighted corner of a record store where they tend to collect music they really don’t understand or want to deal with; Steve Roach, Mike Oldfield, and Pekka Pohjola were all in that corner too, even though they sound nothing at all like each another. Throughout Communion, Gregorius creates a sublimely crafted, melodically rich and contemplative instrumental sonic tapestry of tracks, mostly in the three-to-four minute range, that aren’t going to knock the listener out of their seat and onto a dance floor. The stunningly gorgeous “Homily of Water and Stone” is one of those, with beautifully layered guitars climbing and descending scales with a rich synth and bass backdrop that acts like a window to the soul, while “Blessed Breath of Wind” shimmers with subtle power, growing slowly over its duration. All taken, the music on Communion offers a free flowing and expansive world that is at once graceful, emotional, and inviting.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): John Gregorius

More info
http://wayfarermusicgroup.bandcamp.com/album/communion

 

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