Mosby, Todd: Aerial Views

American guitarist Todd Mosby has been a student of Indian classical music for well over a decade and to further his creativity he plays an Imrat guitar (a guitar-sitar hybrid), having a unique sound. I suppose you could label his new album titled Aerial Views as ambient and/or mellow jazz, but the point is this is music to completely immerse yourself in, best listened to when you want to relax the body and mind and shut yourself off from the rest of the world.

His latest album is a continuation of his conceptual construct of the natural elements beginning with On Eagle Mountain (2016) and followed by Open Water (2019). You can probably glean from the album’s title air is the main theme which has been further developed from Mosby’s childhood memories of flying his dad’s plane. And like an airplane the music flows freely, like a contrail wafting in the breeze. If you are used to flying, you know the ride might get a little rough but on Aerial Views it is smooth sailing all the way.

The first track “Gliding� features Mosby’s jazzy guitar chords weaving in and out of Premik Tubbs’ lovely soprano saxophone excursions. The rhythm section of Tony Levin and Jerry Marotta is low key subtle but as tasteful as one would expect from musicians of this caliber. On “Across America� subtle Indian raga vibes, fantastic guitar work and haunting violin makes for a compelling listen. “Aether� borders on ambient, very quiet with some nice soprano sax. “Earth & Sky� has an easy going breeziness and is followed by the excellent “Into Starlight� featuring sublime wordless vocals from Lola Kristine and Tubbs’ haunting wind synth.

I normally don’t listen to music this mellow, but Mosby and his band offer superb musicianship, nice melodies and carefully thought out arrangements, definitely suited for nighttime listening.

Track listing:
1. Gliding (3:31)
2. Across America (3:47)
3. Aether (4:03)
4. Earth & Sky (3:06)
5. Into Starlight (6:01)
6. Sailing Sylphs (6:28)
7. Between The Clouds (5:18)
8. Blue Horizons (4:01)
9. To The Sky (3:32)
10. Aerial Views (4:23)
11. Solo Flight (2:40)
12. Shinning Lights (3:19)

Added: February 20th 2021
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 453
Language: english

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