Taking advantage of interrupted sleep patterns, many of the tracks on Cloudwalker & the Ascent were laid down in the hour just before dawn, their inspiration distilled from dreams, often with the Moon & Venus smiling through the open backdoor of his cabin.
Marvelous melodies and deep improvs that are matchless, seamless, and timeless
Zero Ohms (Richard Roberts) is a writer, painter, musician, teacher and producer, who follows what he has termed Tao of Zero Ohms (literally: way of no resistance). Most of this album was recorded while he was living in a small community prosaically called Little Switzerland due to its resemblance to an Alpine village, during the beginning of changes brought on by COVID. “I often walked to nearby overlooks that are breathtaking when clear but frequently were quite literally ‘in the clouds,’ hence, I became Cloudwalker,” reflects Roberts. The beauty of this place combined with the uncertainties of the pandemic produced a collection of seven concise improvisations which have the feel of naked solo performances. Taking advantage of interrupted sleep patterns, many of the tracks on Cloudwalker were laid down in the hour just before dawn, their inspiration distilled from dreams, often with the Moon & Venus smiling through the open backdoor of his cabin.
“I have tried to establish a sense of infinity and freedom, and the sense of timelessness that seems to come with it,” reflects the composer. Flutes are the earliest known identifiable musical instruments, an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening. What I hear are multiple harmonics that sound as if we are in huge caverns or perhaps an even larger cathedral. The sound is very big but not in a loud way, rather in a clever and delicate sustained calming way, deep listening you can follow into unknown territories. Zero Ohms adds his flutes and woodwinds to these electronic soundscapes and gets a very unique serene, mellow and meditative sound, with wind-synth and woodwinds from around the planet skillfully blended with field recordings to form the palette of sounds, ecstatic wanderings sounding at once as ancient as it is contemporary.
The first track sets the mood for our journey. “Cloudwalker and the Ascent” (5:57) opens with the sound of a flute in our ethereal big chamber, drones and breath play with symmetry as well as dissonance. The fundamental force in the universe stimulating everything from atoms to animals to evolve and incorporate ever greater levels of quality, which can be heard in the cathedral-like depth and echo that haunts this flute.
The composer reveals that he was inspired by Admiral Richard Byrd’s description of green, forested lands free of ice and snow which he observed ‘beyond the (north) pole’ which he referred to as “that enchanted continent in the sky” and the track “Unknownland” (2:45) is a science fiction blending of worlds, a pulsing atmosphere populated with mystical and acoustically astounding electronic flute-birds, and terrestrial avians as well. This is my favorite track on the album.
Electronic dancing binary jewels near huge crashing waves, ringing bells pulse, “Vistas Beyond” (7:31) expands and encloses the listener inside a breath of warm melodic pulses. The next track’s title comes from a Taoist tradition of seeking high, craggy, seemingly inaccessible places for meditation, “Tum Gaon (ascending to higher places)” (10:20). What I hear is a simple drone flute with just enough electronic enhancement, forming long sustained tones. The view of heaven flows mainly from observation and meditation, a single tone to soar and shimmer in the air, breath and open echoey space goes deep, this is the longest meditation on the album.
Ecstatic wanderings sounding at once as ancient as it is contemporary
Maybe this echoey chamber, be it cave or cathedral, is bigger than we expect. A low drone immediately begins the ascent, very gradual and delicate. “Skybound (free from terrestrial bonds)” (9:20) allows us to imagine the biggest place to find an echo, immersed in the warm, contemplative groove conjured, and headed for the sky.
Earthy spirits might dream of disappearing into sounds in the heavens, “Deep Sky Tones” (5:22) features more of the science fiction electronics, yet also there is an ancient flute vibe, sort of a slow duet between the electronics and the ancient, one side does something slightly different than the other side, but they are both long sustained tones that flicker slightly sometimes, with a layered texture, a reverb feel, bringing to mind mythical entities, moods, and deeper musical meditations.
“Across the Seven Skies” (6:10) has a folktale feeling in my opinion, a story told, a track that stands alone, climbing yet higher, spreading thinner & thinner, beyond the atmosphere, into nothingness. Now our echo chamber goes from a cave to the sky, not just one sky but seven skies. Flutes use the air from our bodies to reach the cosmic force, creating a dreamy genre all its own. I hear several drone instruments blending and sounding in a way that might be similar to the power of the Northern Lights, eclectic blending in a free form and spontaneous air.
“Just as the light of a full moon allows us to navigate a path through the darkness, Music allows us to find our way in the dark nights of the Soul.” Zero Ohms began his musical path around the age of 11 when he began taking clarinet lessons. Four years later, he learned the guitar and got into singing and playing pop and antiwar folk songs. He lists Phil Ochs, Donovan, Richie Havens, the Beatles, the Moody Blues, Leonard Cohen, and Jethro Tull, but seeing and hearing a concert in which Paul Horn accompanied Donovan on the flute changed everything.
A flute produces sound when a stream of air directed across a hole in the instrument creates a vibration of air at the hole, and is sometimes called an edge-blown aerophone projecting marvelous melodies and deep improvs that are matchless, seamless, and timeless, ecstatic spiritual journeys reaching ever upwards.
Cloudwalker & the Ascent is available on Spotted Peccary. [Site | Bandcamp]
