URABE, MASAYOSHI - Urklang

Japanese-born Masayoshi Urabe is a saxophonist who boasts a fearsome sound but, unlike Arthur Doyle, he incorporates long blocks of stony silence into his music. On Urklang - his latest solo disc, which presents two live performances, one on alto, the other on soprano - he painstakingly carves these silences into huge, ominous icebergs. The overall effect is such that even the slightest cry from his horn seems impossibly portentous, especially when he roars through the extremes of the altos upper register. - David Keenan. With beautiful hand assembled miniature gatefold jackets.