THE CIRCLING SUN - SPIRITS

Released: 28/07/23

Assembled from the leading lights of New Zealand jazz, The Circling Sun is relatively new project – although you’d never know it from listening to Spirits, a perfectly weighted, transcendent record that oozes harmony and reciprocality. Channelling spiritual/modal jazz and Latin rhythms, the group – Guy Harrison and Cory Champion of Clear Path Ensemble, and Julien Dyne and Matt Hunter – are virtuosic enough to reference the greats such as Sun Ra, Pharoah Sanders and Alice Coltrane, while maintaining a fresh perspective on ensemble dynamics. On Spirits, every instrument is allowed the take flight, from ecstatic saxophone and gently rippling harp, to the myriad keyboards and futtering flutes – not to mention the full choir. Already regarded as a modern classic, Spirits proves once again that space is the place.