Willebrant & Williamson - Night Daze

 

Released: February 4

Australian bassist and electronics tinkerer Karl Willebrant continues to surprise in the directions he chooses to go and the new Night Daze is no exception. For this latest work, Karl teams up with trumpeter Paul Williamson to create something truly spacious, engaging, and just a little bit weird. Each track feels like a seemingly large area in which the sounds of the bass and trumpet echo around luxuriously. I have to say it gives me a vibe of some kind of extra-dimensional jazz club with the sultry trumpet licks ringing through a space that defies common physics. At least that was the impression I got as I was driving through the early night, navigating roads illuminated only by the taillights of other vehicles. 

The structure of the album is quite intriguing as well. There are mostly standalone tracks of the album - big airy, slow-burning productions like "Vesper" and the bouncy bass line of "Noctambo"  that  remains still very atmospheric even with the especially jazzy bass. However, shortly before the midpoint of the album, there is a shift into a four movement part all bearing the titles "Night Suite" with the pieces being I-IV. For this part of the album, Paul and Karl are joined by cellist Peggy Lee and drummer Dylan ven der Schyff though much of the composition here centers around the trumpet. But there is something sonically different about these four tracks compared to the rest.

 These tracks feel quite live and seem a bit more grounded in their space. The abstract feeling of being in an unreal space fades for a minute and this suite takes back into the real world, although it does seem to leave one foot on the other side of the door. We quickly go from extra-dimensional jazz club to real world concert hall until the end of the fourth movement and sucks us back into a somewhat alien world. The soft and subtle drones carry us on for well over ten minutes until "Eventide" brings back the trumpet as we end out visit with minute phrases sounded out softly. It all makes for an experience that feels rather unreal but has the appropriate touch of class to it.