Label: Biophilia Records, 2023

Personnel - Sara Serpa: voice; Mark Turner: tenor saxophone; Fabian Almazan: piano, electronics; Linda May Han Oh: acoustic and electric bass, voice; Obed Calvaire: drums.

Linda May Han Oh, a bassist and composer of enormous talent, approaches bandleading with fresh and distinctive vision. Backed by a new quintet that works really great, Oh delivers a set of pieces informed by abstract themes of the fragility of time and life, paradoxes and choices, and social issues in our world. The Glass Hours has that adventurous quality often found in her discography, creating a compound of collective exploration and deft improvisation.

The sinuous, complex melody of “Circles” is earnestly declared, side by side, by Portuguese singer Sara Serpa, whose technique is impressive, and saxophonist Mark Turner. The sounds spread within the organized structure, and we have pianist Fabian Almazan and Turner taking improvisational turns before a fearless double bass solo unfolds.

Introduced rubato by bass and piano before sliding into a 7/4 meter, “Antiquity” is a piece with lyrics centered on the weight of the past, whereas “Chimera”, taking the form of a sensual dance, mutates along the way. A swift rhythmic figure takes center stage, creating a motivically induced substratum later embellished with tasteful electronics.

Often abstract, these avant-leanings occasionally invite us to new territory, like “Phosphorous”, which is rendered with a relentless prog-rock rhythm bed. Drummer Obed Calvaire, who worked with Oh on her debut album, Entry (CD Baby, 2009), locks in with the bassist for the sake of a funk-inspired accentuation, supporting ethereal wordless vocals and saxophone cross-cuts. There’s also a more rugged than sweet keyboard solo here.

The composer delves deeply into this musical universe of linear and cyclical forms. With warfare as a topic, “Jus ad Bellum” flows rubato, later probing polyrhythmic patterns with ritualistic precision. More celebratory is the title cut, which has challenging metered cycles rising and waning periodically; Serpa is on the leading edge here, and Turner and Almazan take improvisational turns. Thematically contrary, “The Other Side” is a meditation on the afterlife, employing a push-pull strategy with well-placed staccatos that ground us in the present.

Impeccably layered with boundless energy, The Glass Hours is a mature work that positions Oh in the vanguard of progressive musical creativity.