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Levitation Orchestra: Inexpressible Infinity

By Chris May
November 12, 2019
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A lot of bull is talked about collective music-making, so it is good to come across a band who not only talk the talk but also walk the walk. Good, too, to come across a debut album that is as outstanding as the thirteen-piece

Levitation Orchestra

various

" data-original-title="" title="">Levitation Orchestra's Inexpressible Infinity. Vibrant, joyous and cosmopolitan, it joins

Theon Cross

tuba

" data-original-title="" title="">Theon Cross's Fyah (Gearbox Records) and

Cassie Kinoshi

saxophone
b.1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Cassie Kinoshi's SEED Ensemble's Driftglass (Jazz Re:freshed) among the best albums to come out of the London underground scene which has been revitalising British jazz throughout 2019.

Levitation Orchestra's closest brush with a leader is trumpeter

Axel Kaner-Lidstrom

" data-original-title="" title=""> Axel Kaner-Lidstrom , the best known of its players, whose initiative led to the formation of the band and who is also credited in the lineup credits with "directions in music." From there on in, the ensemble is a genuine collective. Five parts of the six-part, forty-minute suite which comprises Inexpressible Infinity were composed during group rehearsals, with all the musicians chipping in on an equal basis. The sixth part, a brief, unaccompanied, tenor saxophone solo, was spontaneously composed by James Akers.

"The music does not belong to any one member, everyone has contributed, and is included in the creation of each piece," says the liner note, which also observes that "music that is owned not by the individual but by the collective is a way of life that has been eroded over time by the cut-throat creative industries. Levitation Orchestra is stepping outside of that paradigm." As noted, Levitation Orchestra can talk the talk.

The liner note also refers to Levitation Orchestra's "unity of intention," a prerequisite for any collective music-making with ambitions to be more than a musicians-only encounter group. Broadly speaking, the musicians' sonic and philosophical roots, at least as they are expressed in Levitation Orchestra, can be traced back to

Sun Ra

piano
1914 - 1993

" data-original-title="" title="">Sun Ra and the spiritual jazz tradition which was launched by

Alice Coltrane

piano
1937 - 2007

" data-original-title="" title="">Alice Coltrane,

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane and

Pharoah Sanders

saxophone, tenor
1940 - 2022

" data-original-title="" title="">Pharoah Sanders in the mid 1960s and given an early platform on US labels such as Strata-East and Impulse! Records. Shots of bracing, Fender Rhodes-driven fusion keep everyone on their toes. Despite the presence of two vocalists, Inexpressible Infinity, like most albums in the spiritual-jazz tradition including

Kamasi Washington

saxophone
b.1981

" data-original-title="" title="">Kamasi Washington's chorale-heavy epics, is what most people would understand to be instrumental; that is, the vocals are wordless and the non-linear narrative unfolds through sound and vibe, unencumbered by lyrics.

Another self-identifying collective on London's underground scene is

Nerija

" data-original-title="" title="">Nerija, a great band. But in Nerija's scheme of things, being a collective mostly means that each member brings their own tune to the party: the group's 2019 debut album, Blume (Domino), contained one tune from each of the seven members and just two group compositions. Levitation Orchestra though is as near to being a 360-degrees' collective as it is practical to get.

A collective approach is not the only framework for successful music-making, and it is a hard one to execute, but when it works, as it does here, it is something special.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Odyssey; Mystical Yang; MF One; Clairevoyance; A Small Truth; Twin Serpents.

Personnel

Levitation Orchestra

various

Axel Kaner-Lidstrom: trumpet; Lluis Domenech Plana: flute; James Akers: tenor saxophone; Deji Ijishakin: tenor saxophone; Sophie Plummer: vocals; Zakia Sewell: vocals; Marysia Osuchowska: harp; Saskia Horton: violin; Tom Oldfield: cello; Paris Charles Raine: guitar; Roella Oloro: keyboards; Hamish Nockles-Moore: bass; Harry Ling: drums.

Album information

Title: Inexpressible Infinity | Year Released: 2019 | Record Label: Astigmatic Records

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