The Neshama Alma Band - Clearing Clouds of Confusion

 Released: August 23

The Neshama Alma Band is a collaboration between two artists whose solo and other collaborative works I am already well familiar with - Ernesto Diaz-Infante and Marjorie Sturm. Now, on this particular project,  the talents and musical preferences of both are displayed in rather interesting ways. The project itself has a very spiritual and even prayerful vibe to it, which makes sense considering the name translates to soul in two different languages. The album itself consists of two live performances for radio, both of which have a rather exploratory approach and are deeply textural in their tone. 

Diaz-Infante takes his normal approach of plucky improvisation and turns it into freeform scale and chords explorations that stop, stutter, and have a particular character of tone which often feels like a bare and intimate working of the guitar neck. I’m sure it would be quite a sight to see in person. Strum, for her part, keeps her flute tones in the background, providing a haunting bit of ambiance that provides a stark constraint to the upfront picking and plucking Ernesto provides. For most of “Memphis Sunset,” this is the mode until the final movement. In this final piece, Diaz-Infante reverts to simple strumming and letting the notes ring out in a way that almost feels like bells tolling until fading away and returning with heavy distortion. It is a strangely spiritual and springy experience that stretches and contracts in odd but thoroughly enjoyable ways.