Label: Edition Records, 2020
Personnel - Chris Potter: tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet, bass clarinet, flutes, piano, keyboards, acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, drums, percussion, samples.
This solo album by Chris Potter, made in six weeks while in lockdown, reveals instrumental insight as he plays all the instruments in a new and challenging experience that included writing, recording and producing. It's not as thrilling as when he plays with his groups, but his known strengths are on display, especially the killer saxophone solos, the compositional eclecticism, and the ability to find color and joy in his surroundings.
The opening track, “I Had a Dream”, has all that. The piece, inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement, has a glowing Afro-folk feel to it that enhances the urgency of equality in this world.
Potter plays the guitar with a clean, exotic touch on “Like a Memory”, whose main melody is designed with affiliated layers of woodwinds. Tenor saxophone and bass clarinet were chosen for the soloing.
Referencing the Yoruba and Santeria goddess Yemoja, “Mother of Waters” flows at a 3/4 tempo, relying on a fine percussive tract and some clever chromatic shifts to succeed. Breezes of funk are efficiently mixed with African folk music. Still, deeper funk excavations can be found on “Rising Over You”, which boasts some surprising turns in the way. In turn, “Rest Your Head” waltzes gently, displaying a lovely pop melody on top of a harmonic tapestry competently textured with acoustic and electric guitars.
Also harmonically captivating, “Oh So Many Stars” shows a beautiful, contemplative side without committing to a slow pace. It contrasts with “Beneath the Waves”, whose final section, projected with a dancing quality, allows percussion and horn juxtapositions to stand out.
There is a Tide was conceptualized and arranged with imagination, insisting on the search for beauty and hope instead of focusing on the fear and despair. Although far from Potter’s foremost works, it’s hard not to be uplifted by its positive energy.
Garde B
Favorite Tracks:
01 - I Had a Dream ► 03 - Mother of Waters ► 05 - Oh So Many Stars