ELTON DEAN AND MARK HEWINS
Bar Torque (Moonjune Records)
Reviewed by Rusty Pipes

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Elton Dean's pedigree as a saxophonist stretches back 30 years all the way to that seminal English psychedelic band, The Soft Machine. He hasn't lost his touch for spacey progressive Art Rock as evidenced by this collaboration with guitarist Mark Hewins.

There are only three long instrumental pieces that make up this album, "Bar Torque," "Sylvan" and the slyly titled "Merilyn's Cave." The title track is a 24 minute monster that would have been at home on the Soft Machine's Thirds album. The arrangement is pretty sparse, but it does contain beautiful liquid sax runs from Dean while Hewitt noodles around on synthesizers, guitars and tubular bells. The other tracks are only half as long and they segue together, maintaining a similar tone throughout the album's 50 minutes. Call it a long tone poem. The time signatures are sedate and subtle and probably have more meaning to musicians than to me, but I find it oddly soothing to listen to and especially nice to have as a background when doing a bit of creative writing or some other late night recreation.

All in all Bar Torque is lovely space-jazz that owes as much to John Coltrane as it does to hippie psychedelia and may it well turn into your favorite around the house late night soundtrack.

[Pick up this CD at www.amazon.com.]

© 2002 - Rusty Pipes