Richard Davies describes himself as a U.K. saxophonist experimenting with cinematic sounds and marrying jazz, blues, electronic, and ambient styles. His previous releases (all 18 of them) have delved into different musical areas and styles but his landing point for the moment is jazz with electronic and chilled ambiance based around his saxophone and keyboards.
After his last release, Davies planned to take a break from recording for a while. Pagan Landscapes earned some complimentary reviews and maybe it was time to take a breather. But then, he says “I had this dream back in December; I dreamt of music. That dream left a deep impression on my musical thinking, but the plan was to rest up between music projects. I really felt sure that I wasn’t going to make any new music for some time. Partly because I had nothing left over from the last project and partly because I felt so tired! I needed time out.
“So anyway, I have this dream and so the old saying goes, ‘just when I thought I was out, they dragged me back in,'” Davies added. “I started to write to capture what I heard in my dream, and I think I finally got there. It felt good. Before I realized it, I had over an album’s worth of material. I based the writing around my love of sci-fi, so kudos to anyone who spots the sci-fi easter eggs running through the song titles.”
Davies captures many different moods on Cosmic Odyssey. There is the atmospheric opening of “My God, It’s Full of Stars,” where the listener feels as if they are on the precipice of space itself. A drum and saxophone duet on “Dual on a Bridge Made of Crystal,” as the sax injects melodious phrases over changing drummed rhythm patterns. The saxophone on this track is particularly intuitive, changing from rasping improvisational phrases to repeated tonal lines.
On “Egg,” the percussion and saxophone discourse through a series of musical phrases and “Mystery Man With No Eyebrows” has a dark, sinister edge and is a riveting track of drums, keys, piano, synth, and tenor sax. Richard Davies uses his tenor akin to a narrative. It is this instrument that sets the tone and patterns for nearly every number, and tracks are built around the scaffold the tenor sax lines supply. A great, moody number.
“Eggs” features the sonorous voice of the bass clarinet with violin and drums offering sweet counterpoint while vocals introduce gently lilting phrases. “Communion” is marked by gentle, calming, tenor sax short phrases. The bass sequencer introduces a different effect. Davies’ sax rises and soars majestically across the top of the background, which gets a little busy at times but keeps with it for the tenor line when it reappears. “Egg3” is a strange affair with eerie tenor sax warping over percussion.
“Life Cycle of a Satellite” features sax over thoughtful lines from the keys. The final stages feel as if a relentless clock is ticking down the dying time of the floaty satellite. “A Boy and His Dog” starts with crazily counter-positioned rhythms, then the sax line begins offering alternate rhythms of its own as the percussion evolves into an Eastern-feeling rhythmic pattern.
“Lonely Child on an Ocean of Truth” is interesting, with the bass clarinet providing supportive depths while the keyboard offers trickling rivulets of sound. “Some Kind of Leap” ends Cosmic Odyssey and this feels like a sonnet or epilogue to the narrative of the album – which is an eclectic voyage through emotions, patterns, and rhythms.
Richard Davies proves that with thought and talent and perhaps a nudge from the spirit world in our dream life, even if you think you might be taking a break from creating music, the universe might not agree. Cosmic Odyssey is an example of why we should follow our dreams.
As Davies says, “The world isn’t looking too good right now but I know if we work together then we can all do something out.” Listening to this music might just help.
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