John Surman
Road to Saint Ives

In a distant future, or perhaps, in a parallel dimension, solitary pilgrims will cross starry routes in a dark and boundless universe. The post stations along the way of the stars, the only hope of refuge and refreshment for the traveler, will be found on remote planets with names sometimes mystical, sometimes unsettling, sometimes evocative: "Polperro", "Mevagissey", Lostwithiel", "Bedruthan Steps". In these arcane places at the edge of the universe, travelers will meet fantastic creatures, perceiving distant echoes of ancient civilizations. Futuristic and unimaginable technologies will live alongside archaic rites, the circle of magic and science will close on the ridge of the galaxies.

The soundtrack of a journey in this ancient future could be one of the albums created in complete solitude by the English saxophonist John Surman. In his hands of a technological sprite, icy words like "loop", "sequencer", "overdub" find new life, and express a disruptive, poetic creativity. His talent is that of listening to himself in real time, extracting even more music from his own performances, using the studio and recording techniques as an additional instrument to play, and on which it is also possible to improvise.

Prepare yourself, because on our journey we will come to know some very strange worlds. A chattering flock of overdubbed saxophones will meet us when we land on "Trethevy Quoit". Immersed in a technological Middle Age, we will climb the steps of a ruined Gothic cathedral, accompanied by organ notes and a graceful soprano sax phrasing, on "Tintagel".

We will admire the antiseptic beauty of the alien landscape of "Piperspool". We will visit the ancient menagerie of "Rame Head" where, among the mists evoked by the baritone sax and the bass clarinet, the strangest beasts can be glimpsed. And do not let yourself be tempted by the thousand calls of the enchanted forest of "Perranporth"...

In the silence and solitude, accompanied only by the notes of a soprano sax, we will meet other travelers who will tell us their stories, on "Lostwithiel" and at the base of "Kelly Bray".

We will be admitted to the court of "Bodmin Moor", bizarre and wonderful. We will cross the electronic maze of mirrors of "Mevagissey", to the notes of two baritone saxophones that dialogue with each other, agile and cumbersome at once.

And in the complex ritual dance of the inhabitants of "Bedruthan Steps", the last known stop of our journey before setting sail towards an even more unknown cosmos, we will feel nothing but the melancholy of a lost man, millions of miles from home.

The road to Saint Ives is marked. It's time to set out on the journey...