TOTW: Alabaster DePlume_ Visit Croatia

On the track “Visit Croatia,” Alabaster DePlume demonstrates the qualities great musicians can impose on a single melody.

The 8 bar melody provides the fundamental structure, looping throughout the track, with the instrumentation provided by alto sax, cello, piano and guitar. However, each instrument takes turns to lead and changes its intonation with each repetition of the track, keeping it permanently intriguing and in flux.

When the instruments aren’t taking centre stage, they either provide counter melodies or back up the others and round off the lead instrument. A great example (and highlight for me) is the way the cello creates a rich deep base tone underneath alto saxophone early in the piece.

“Visit Croatia” is what you get when you put great musicians in a room together and allow them to play off one another. It is music captured at its purest for all of our enjoyment.

The simplicity in production is a huge strength, putting the listener in the room with the musicians. You feel part of the performance, as though you can access the tactility of the instruments, and swim in the emotions portrayed in their playing:

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