Short Reviews [Octarine Sky - 2021 - "Close to Nearby"]

One of the benefits of being a fairly well-known writer is that I come across material I otherwise would not have found for myself, and a few years back I came across Potter’s Daughter and immediately fell in love with their sound, which was based around the beautiful piano and vocals of Dyanne Potter Voegtlin, together with her son Jan Christiana who is an arranger, composer, bassist and guitarist. So, when I came across this album, I was somewhat intrigued as it is again Dyanne and Jan, but they have brought in famed drummer Simon Phillips (who also mixed the album which Jan produced), and have used two different guitarists, Guthrie Govan and Amit Chatterjee. Dyanne has followed two musical careers over the years, one being that of a classical pianist and the other of a singer/songwriter. This album commences with a nod to the former as it is an arrangement of the first movement of the First Piano Sonata by Alberto Ginastera, with Simon and Jan accompanying her which provides more depth. If the name Ginastera seems familiar to progheads then look to your copy of ‘Brain Salad Surgery’, where you will find an adaptation of the 4th Movement ("Toccata concertata") of Ginastera's 1st Piano Concerto. For me this is a perfect introduction as we hear the three musicians blending and working in a classical form but bending it into prog. The album contains three instrumental and five vocal tracks which show how comfortable they are in either form. Dyanne has a wonderful voice and has even worked with Annie Haslam on a track for Potter’s Daughter which demonstrates just what a fine singer she is. There are multi-tracked harmonies on “Rosewind”, a song which is very different indeed from what came before. This is an album which is beautifully arranged, with Simon providing more than “just” drums and Jan showing what a very fine fretless bassist he is, while the guitarists are utilised somewhat sparingly and therefore to great effect. There is a great deal of depth within this album, something magical, and each time I play it I find more to discover. It greatly benefits from being played on headphones when one really has the time to devote to it. Glorious and majestic, this is a delight.