Peace Flag Ensemble

Peace Flag Ensemble return on their third LP with sharper focus and a wider lens. The record is their most canorous and their most accessible. The ambient free jazz collective’s early recordings were gauzy, percussion-less affairs where the piano was sparing and additional instrumentation was often textural, but on Everything Is Possible each member of the sextet finds space to shine while simultaneously lifting each other up. Hope, wonder, worry. Grief, love, fury. Joy, romance, time travel. ....Everything is possible.

The album centers around the improvisations of pianist Jon Neher. Following a short run of dates in Germany, Neher was struck by an observation that shaped the new record. His instrument had been receding to the background live in a way it didn’t have to - there was room to be more than just a vessel for the other players. As a result he steps forward on Everything Is Possible with more melodic and virtuosic moments.

Flugelhornist Dalton Lam and saxophonist Paul Gutheil’s lyrical playing sounds as though they’ve found comfort in each other’s company. They share exchanges like great conversationalists, and at times prove that silence is peak communication. Across the album, drummer Mike Thievin sits notably more present. His playing is restrained and subtle, but deceptively intricate as he anchors Travis Packer’s wayfaring electric bass.

The album was once again produced and mixed by ambient artist Michael Scott Dawson who contributes mazy guitars and electronics to the project. Dawson’s studio as an instrument approach lends a human touch to the affected and atmospheric elements. The result is as indebted to Tortoise in ‘99 as it is to Keith Jarrett in ‘75.

Everything Is Possible takes its name from a novelty tee shirt Dawson misread one bleary morning while racing through an airport.