All kosmische and jazz fusion fans need to check out Aaron Dooley’s first official album on Island House Recordings, Trapped in Purgatory.

Dooley, of whom RCU regulars may also know from being a member of Osmium House, gathered together a crack team of ace improvisers, armed with a disparate collection of instruments. Then he allowed them to daringly blend their sounds together with unrestrained freedom. The results are endlessly fascinating.

Dulcimers, harmoniums and clarinets party together with djembes, saxophones and mandolins, often producing a deeply dreamlike zone. This is especially true for “Plainswalking,” which sound like a cosmic interpretation of a southwestern Bruce Langhorne soundscape, with its rusty gate-like dobro creaks and wandering bass lines (provided by Dooley himself).

This same rustic psychedelia vibe inhabits “Lingering,” but leans heavier into the group’s folk side, with more emphasis given to the chiming dulcimer and crooning woodwinds. Then, on the brilliant “Ütiwaah,” the band goes full spiritual kosmische jazz mode. They lock into a trance-inducing Joshua Abrams-kind of groove with twinkling glockenspiels and motorik drums that cycle through a tight rhythmic pattern underneath dueling elemental sax and clarinet solos.

If Abrams’ Natural Information Society, William Parker and Shelley Burgon are your cup of meat, then this is a tape you need to snag pronto. Click here to order yours today!

-KH

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