Ascend with the Clear Path Ensemble as Cory Champion embraces ambient gamelan on his latest album that fits hot summer nights and the cool of the day (and vice versa)!
Eric Demuro's forthcoming album 'Siularca' (see review HERE) and various NuNorthern Soul releases touch that link of OST jazz-library and ambient Steve Reich and Hermeto Pascal but perhaps not more so than Cory Champion (vibraphone, xylophone, glockenspiel, marimba, bass metallophone, percussion, piano, Rhodes) and as they can also reach out to the 'classical' Dame Evelyn Glennie.
Hard to belive it was recorded solo in a single day through Cory's layered self-improvisation; longtime collaborator Daniel Hayles (piano, Rhodes, vibraphone) appears on one track as we are told, "The album pulls back from the spiritual/psychedelic jazz and electronica of previous records, instead drawing on minimalist and ambient influences ranging from Steve Reich and Laraaji to Brian Eno and Ryuichi Sakamoto, building reflective, spacious soundscapes".
The six tracks are gentle gentle on the soul and a prefect sunny vibra(phone) on the terrace of a minimal downtempo cool down reminiscent of 70s ECM - Gary Burton, Peacock and that gang of asending jazz-larks.
BUY LINK / PRE-ORDER: Ascending | Clear Path Ensemble
Artwork by Jade Townsend. My bird (2025), courtesy of Season.
Artist: Clear Path Ensemble
Title: Ascending
Release date: 27th May, 2026
Label : Clear Path Ensemble
Catalog Number : TBC
Format: Vinyl (Limited Edition) / Digital / Bandcamp
