Esthesis Quartet: Time Zones
Ears & Eyes Records

Esthesis Quartet members Elsa Nilsson (flute), Dawn Clement (piano), Emma Dayhuff (bass), and Tina Raymond (drums) reside in different parts of the country, but there's no sign of disconnect on their aptly titled sophomore effort. The common bond so vividly captured on the group's eponymous debut two years ago remains solidly in place on the follow-up. With composition credits spread across the group, Time Zones shows itself to be very much a group effort, even if individual talents assert themselves at different times on the seven performances. If there's a lead voice, it's Nilsson's, though Clement often shares the role; for their part, Dayhuff and Raymond are considerably more than mere support when they drive the quartet with invention and authority.

All four bring impressive credentials to the joint venture. Originally from Gothenburg, Nilsson's been establishing herself as a musical presence in Brooklyn for a decade and teaches at The New School College of Performing Arts. Clement is the Area Coordinator of the Jazz and American Improvised Music Department at Metropolitan State University of Denver, Raymond is Director of Jazz Studies at California State University Northridge, and Dayhuff is a recent graduate of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance in Los Angeles—only the fifth woman to have participated in the program, incidentally.

While the first album was assembled remotely due to pandemic-related restrictions, the sequel was laid down at Tritone Studios in Glendale, California—obviously the preferable scenario for the comparative ease with which it enables performances to happen. To that end, the new album comes closer to realizing the ideal intimated by the group's name, Esthesis a word referring to the elementary sensation of touch.

In its introduction, Clement's moody “Blue Light” opts for alluring understatement over high-octane bludgeon. Each member enters in turn: an unaccompanied Dayhuff eases the tune in on a note of hushed mystery, after which Raymond, wielding brushes, enters surreptitiously with Clement sprinkling alongside her. The composition's identity crystallizes with the voicing of its theme by Nilsson. As if startled from its reverie, however, the music abruptly turns robust and agitated with furious exchanges between all four and an improvisation between the flutist and drummer. Raymond's textural artistry enhances her “Brush Fire,” written in response to the 2018 Woolsey fire that raged across nearly 100,000 acres in two counties. Similar to the opener, the performance swells from a subdued beginning into a force of nature, Nilsson and Raymond again going toe-to-toe as the music builds frenetically. A dramatic change-up occurs in the third piece, Clement's “The New Yorker,” when she adds vocals to her dream-like reverie. The informality of the pianist's delivery isn't unappealing, especially when her vocal tone sounds a little bit like Jane Siberry's, and the poetic character of the piece isn't unwelcome either in the context of this otherwise instrumental release.

Elsewhere, Clement's “Hollywood” provides a blues-bop vehicle for multiple solo turns, and, speaking of mystery, Raymond's “Serial” exudes a bit of a TV detective-like feel in its rolling bass line, flute whooshes, and controlled mayhem. The last two pieces are Nilsson's, “First Light” a peaceful counterpoint to the chaos of “Serial.” While the penultimate piece sees the flutist waxing lyrically and the others emoting sensitively, “Getting Through” takes flight immediately to take the album out with high-velocity ensemble drive.

April 2023