David Torn: David Torn: only sky E NON SOLO

May 1, 2015
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Despite a career that now goes back over three decades, the relative infrequency of releases from guitarist and sound sculptor David Torn renders any new one, at the very least, a cause for speculation…if not enthusiastic anticipation. Beyond the soundtracks that have become one piece of the puzzle that defines who Torn is—and acting as engineer and/or producer for fellow unfettered explorers like saxophonist Shadow Man (ECM, 2013) as another—Torn was last heard on a curiously constructed improvised set with bassist Levin Torn White(Lazy Bones, 2007).But it was Torn’s own Prezens—the guitarist’s first album as a leader for ECM in 20 years, and a complete anomaly in his catalog, peopled by a group that included, in addition to Berne, keyboardist Dream Logic (2012)—and for those looking to find clear form amidst the swirling clouds, elliptical phrases and chiming chordal passages, there will be plenty to challenge them. Still, everything from harsh angularity to unabashed beauty can be found on only sky, yet another album which suggests that it’s those Torn makes for ECM that are invariably his best—and, in this case, his most personal, too.