Citizenjazz.com on CD Turn On, Tune In, Drop Out! (French)

Engl translation:
Mark Lotz’s trio recalls the trios of Henry Threadgill and Humair-Jeanneau-Texier, with a hint of post-bop providing an adventurous backdrop. Mark Lotz has been immersed in a wide range of music, and his journey has taken him from Thailand, where he grew up, to Uganda and Europe. Living in Holland, he has performed with Han Bennink, Chris Potter and Dave Douglas, and his instrumental mastery makes him a much sought-after flautist. His album TurnOn, Tune In, Drop Out! is dedicated to Timothy Leary, a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. The title of this record takes up the American essayist’s slogan: go ahead, put yourself in phase and pick it up!

All the compositions intertwine easily with the improvisations, and the trio fills the space with convincing themes, such as “Bring Delight” with its elaborate tempo breaks, “Beat The Drum” and “Consciousness”, which alone showcase Jamie Peet’s Roy Haynes-inspired playing. Bassist Zack Lober remains the central element of the album, providing a solid foundation for the fascinating “Push” and the boppish “Relax And Flow”. Mark Lotz makes appropriate use of his various flutes, and his mastery of the bansuri flute, which needs to be fine-tuned to achieve the right intonation, is very dynamic.

“Trance Out”, a beautiful oriental-inspired sequence, closes the successful record of this close-knit trio, whose spirit has travelled in an inspired way without aiming for any hallucinatory mode.

by Mario Borroni