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Uroboro — As in an Unpicking of Time's Garment
(Discus Music 9008DL, 2024, DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2024-12-09

As in an Unpicking of Time's Garment Cover art

While Uroboro’s debut was a sprawling assemblage of two studio sessions lasting well over two hours (and even more with all the bonus tracks if one downloaded it), this second effort shows what the group can achieve in a live setting, offering five cuts drawn from that debut, A Story Like Fire, plus two cuts scheduled for the band’s next studio album in 2025. This time out the group is a little different, with regular keyboardist Laura Cole out due to illness, and subbing for her is none other than Matthew Bourne, whom we have covered in his endeavors with Shiver, as well as his own Harpsichords release; the remainder of the group is identical to the debut: Anton Hunter (guitar and electronics), John Pope (bass), Keith Jafrate (saxophones, spoken words, compositions), and Johnny Hunter (drums). The title track is a ten-minute jazz feast featuring guest singer Sylvie Rose, and stands as one of the finest of the new compositions featured herein. The set launches with “A Dream Where Birds Dream,” one of the highlights of the debut album, and follows up with “The Huntress,” another brilliant jazz epic that graced the first album; here, in a live setting, it seems like both pieces offer the players a little more room to stretch out — or maybe it’s just my imagination. Other tracks from the debut given new interpretations here include “Praise,” “Cesare Ha Detto,” and “Mesmerised,” the latter being another highlight of this live set, with Bourne’s piano and Anton Hunter’s guitar worthy of special recognition. “I Have Learnt the Grammar of Blue / Forget All That” is the other new composition in the live set, a dreamy piece that builds slowly from bass and drums, later with piano and guitar joining in along with the saxes, creating a formidable level of energy while still maintaining that dreamy feeling, with the backward guitar effect being a highlight of this twelve-and-a-half minute epic. All taken, As in an Unpicking of Time’s Garment shows us what Uroboro can do in a live setting, and it’s every bit as great as one might expect.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Uroboro, Matthew Bourne

More info
http://discusmusic.bandcamp.com/album/as-in-an-unpicking-of-times-garment-9008dl-2024

 

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