Sean Lennon: Asterisms (Tzadik/digital outlets)

The title of this album is telling and clue to contents: it refers to constellations and shapes in the sky.

Which is entirely in keeping with the five instrumentals which take an astral trip somewhere between space rock and sky-scaling prog on the opener Starwater, but later comes with a large helping of Bitches Brew/Jack Johnson-era Miles Davis.

It was recorded when the musicians could finally get together post-Covid after some pre-Covid gigs at John Zorn's New York venue, The Stone.

So here on Zorn's label we find guitarist/composer Sean Lennon (no stranger to astrology given his mother's penchant for it), drummer Ches Smith from Zorn bands, bassist/guitarist Devin Hoff (Sharon Van Etten, Cibo Matto), keyboard players Yuka Hondo (also Cibo Matto, a longtime Lennon collaborator) and Joao Nogueira (of the Claypool Lennon Delirium alongside Sean and Les Claypool of Primus).

Rounding out the playing and nudging the music more towards the jazz are percussion player Mauro Refosco (from Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace) and trumpeter Michael Leonhart (Steely Dan).

Whew! That's some implosion of diverse talents.

And after a trip into the spiritual sky on the opener Starwater, things get very jazz-cool courtesy of trumpeter Leonhart on Thinking of M and Acidalia (with tasty guitar also on the latter).

The title track is a kind of Latin Futurism/fusion piece which spins out over 11 minutes and the closer Heliopause is a quiet, cinematic meditation.

Given Sean Lennon's previous work with the more recent Plastic Ono Band and the Claypool Lennon Delirium, this is an unexpected but very interesting direction for him to move to, and with companions who can pull it off.

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You can hear this album at Spotify here.

It is available on pre-order (CD and vinyl) in New Zealand at Mighty Ape here