What happens when three adventurous musicians enter a room with no predetermined musical destination? On Solace, guitarist and electronic musician Jonathan Crossley, guitarist David Kollar and drummer Lukas Ligeti answer that question through a series of wholly improvised performances that move between ambient textures, pulsating electronics, experimental jazz and intricate polyrhythms.
Due September 11, 2026 from 7D Media, Solace documents a remarkable musical encounter recorded during an artistic residency at the University of Liverpool in June 2024. Rather than working from conventional compositions, Crossley, Kollar and Ligeti build the music in real time, responding to one another and allowing the pieces to develop organically.
The result occupies a fascinating space between ambient jazz, electroacoustic improvisation, experimental music and Fourth World-inspired sound. The three musicians bring very different approaches to the session, yet those differences become the source of the album's energy.
Crossley expands the traditional concept of the guitar through synthesis, digital processing and real-time electronic control. His approach transforms the instrument into something far more expansive, allowing sounds to shift from recognizable guitar gestures into abstract electronic textures. His playing becomes less about conventional guitar vocabulary and more about movement, atmosphere and spontaneous interaction.
David Kollar brings another highly individual voice to the music. His guitar work can move from tonal fragments to dense abstraction and avant-garde interplay, treating the instrument as an open-ended source of sound rather than being confined to any particular genre. The result is music that can be melodic one moment and completely unpredictable the next.
At the center of the trio's rhythmic universe is Lukas Ligeti, whose drumming draws from experimental jazz, contemporary music and world traditions. His Africa-influenced approach incorporates overlapping polyrhythms and shifting rhythmic patterns, giving the improvisations a sense of motion even when the surrounding electronics become spacious and atmospheric.
The interaction between the three musicians is what ultimately defines Solace. Instead of following a fixed musical roadmap, they respond to each other's sounds in real time. Guitars become textures, electronics become rhythmic elements, and percussion can function as both pulse and atmosphere.
The title track takes the album into even more haunting territory with the addition of Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen. His distinctive trumpet sound adds an almost otherworldly quality to “Solace,” bringing melancholy, openness and a remarkable sense of space to the trio's already expansive sonic environment.
The album opens with the 10-minute title track before moving through a series of shorter improvisations and contrasting environments. “Interlude” provides a brief transition, while “They Are Coming” introduces another extended exploration. “Freedom to Choose,” “Imagining Marrakesh” and “Games to Play” continue the album's constantly shifting journey, while the intriguingly titled “You Don't Know What to Do With Your Life” leads into “Coda” and the closing “Dub Ephemeral.”
Despite the absence of conventional song structures, Solace never feels directionless. The musicians' ability to listen and react gives the performances an internal logic. Rhythmic patterns emerge and disappear, electronic textures expand and contract, and fragments of melody surface before being transformed into something entirely different.
The recording also captures the immediacy of the project. The sessions were recorded live at the University of Liverpool by Phil Almond-Higgins on June 27 and 28, 2024, with additional recording by Crossley and Henriksen. Crossley subsequently mixed the album, with Andrew Larrabee handling mastering and Michal Kořán responsible for the artwork and design.
Two of the album's tracks, “Solace” and “They Are Coming,” are already available for purchase and streaming, offering an early glimpse into the trio's unusual musical chemistry.
For listeners drawn to ambient jazz, electroacoustic improvisation, experimental guitar, contemporary percussion and music that refuses to stay inside conventional genre boundaries, Solace promises a compelling listening experience. It is an album built not around predetermined answers, but around the possibilities that emerge when three distinctive musicians trust one another enough to simply listen, react and create.
No comments:
Post a Comment