Art Lande, David Samuels, Paul McCandless - Skylight (ECM, 1981)

 This post is by Dan

Art Lande (p, perc); David Samuels (vib, mba, perc); Paul McCandless (ss, enhn; ob, bcl, wfl)

Recorded May 1981

Skylight is the album title and the collective name for the three contributing musicians. Samuels is known for his work with David Friedman in the group Double Image. McCandless was a member of the original Paul Winter Consort and Oregon groups. Lande is known mainly through his other albums on ECM.

Together, the group present a series of compositions from the group members and two brief group improvisations. The overall focus is on the interplay among the two percussive/chordal instruments (vibes and piano) and the horns of McCandless. There is no bass instrument or drummer, but there is a lot of fascinating percussion on display, beautifully interspersed with the reeds.

One key to the success of this record is that Samuels and Lande find ways to avoid getting in each other's way. For example, on the title tune Lande plays chords behind Samuels' single-note runs on the vibes. Later, they duet as equals. All three musicians have flexible roles in the ensemble. For his part, McCandless mostly plays oboe, but there are good features for his bass clarinet, soprano sax and wood flute. His two compositions on the date are the most lyrical. 

Fans of Oregon will see similarities between that group and Skylight, mainly because of McCandless' presence. However, Skylight is distinguished by the combination of vibes or marimba with the oboe, and the various unnamed percussive instruments add to the intrigue of the composed pieces and the improvised sketches. There is a lot to pay attention to on this album. ECM's pristine sound reveals everything clearly.

Unfortunately, Skylight was a one-off collaboration, although all three artists went on to create music in the same vein. Their only album together is a high point in ECM's early 1980s output, clearly solidifying producer Manfred Eicher's signature on jazz.