Last month, when Marc Ribot was playing Aoyama Cay, one of Seigen Ono's people proffered an advance copy of "So Peaceful, Simple and Strong" to him backstage, saying, "It's good, Marc. It's really good." Ribot, heavy-lidded with jet lag and fatigue from touring Europe, grimaced and dropped the disc onto a growing pile that included business cards, a few stray pages of sheet music and balled-up wads of clothing.
One hopes "So Peaceful, Simple and Strong" made its way into whatever kind of suitcase Ribot eventually packed his mound of belongings into because, all backstage arm-twisting aside, it really is good -- in the ruminating, expansive way that Miles Davis' "In a Silent Way" is good, or the slightly unhinged way that the Paul Bley Quartet's untitled 1998 release is good. Although the tunes are built around coherent melodies, they are extremely atmospheric -- delicate cinematic soundscapes that, seemingly, if they were to go in any direction just a bit further, would run the risk of becoming chaotic or, alternatively, disappear altogether. "So Peaceful" was recorded live in the studio, an approach nearly extinct nowadays, and the listener will feel the intense telepathy among the musicians as they gently pass through the moods and colors of this music.
The title track is more than 11 minutes long and is characteristic of much of the music on the CD. It opens with Ono on a guitar that sounds at once like a speeding train blowing its horn and the bell clanging its warning to stand back. Once the train has passed, the clanging stops, the gate rises and we are free to cross the track. On the other side, a world of melancholy is invoked by a simple melody imagined on piano against moody acoustic bass notes, both bowed and plucked, and trumpet strains that tentatively begin to explore this sonic terrain. Ono enters again and shifts the mood, working the same notes repeatedly on a distorted guitar. The music is at once neurotic -- each instrument struggling with its own ticks -- and immensely human, compelling and reassuring.