Three Hopeful Men Looking for the Light : Jeff Denson – Romain Pilon – Brian Blade – Finding Light
When I look back at 2019 and remembering Between Two Worlds album, I remember listening to an album below my expectations when I check the credits there are great names such as Brian Blade, Jeff Denson and Romain Pilon. You can’t say that any album was mediocre when the Brian Blade factor came into play, but it didn’t excite me to be honest. I thought it was a static album with no breaking points. I didn’t even get a chance to listen to it a second time. Probably because it’s their first album. Or maybe i didn’t get their point. When I listened to their brand new album Finding Light, I understood that I had to trust the chemistry between them. Because Finding Light, which they released after the effect of the pandemic passed, became one of the records I listened to the most this year.
Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon and Brian Blade were on tour in 2020. The last concert of the tour took place on February 11st at Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, California. This live video came to life as the last pre-Covid recording of three improvisers enjoying making music together.
While describing this second album, they define the search for light in order to create an album of hope about surviving and getting out of dark times. Pilon and Denson composed the pieces independently from each other, but when they came together, they stumbled upon their desire to seek light in their music. A thunderous recording was created when Brian Blade’s cymbal-shattering lightning drums hit Romain Pilon’s rock tone. The funky music they rediscovered during the pandemic period caused their compositions to groove very well.
As a music lover who has listened to the album many times, I knew that the album writing process coincides with the pandemic period, even if I enjoy each and every dynamic passage separately, I listened to the still passages in a dejected mood as they reminded me of the catastrophic days in the Covid period. Especially when the musical atmosphere in the song “A Moment In Time” started to make me nervous, I’m happy that this peace is connected to a bluesy piece like Wishing Well on a Sunday afternoon that evokes calm. However, I’ve witnessed this brilliant trio drive to groove together charmingly. 6 tracks was composed by Jeff Denson, Romain Pilon composed 4 tracks on the album. Pilon and Denson also produced and arranged the album too.
I hope life gives these three hopeful musicians the opportunity to come together for a much more energetic album after the pandemic. When that day comes, I will be one of the first to listen.
