Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Cosmic Cathedral: Deep Water, Review


Group:  Cosmic Cathedral

a newly formed “jam-band” consisting of Neal Morse, Phil Keaggy, Chester Thompson, and Byron House

Album: Deep Water



Release April 25, 2025

Genre: Prog-Rock* at the intersection of pop-rock-jazz, classical, gospel and groove, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Steely Dan, the Odyssey, Age-of-Aquarius vocals, synesthesia, Patmos, and the New Jerusalem.

* I just learned that Prog Rock stands for Progressive Rock.  I’d always thought it meant Programmed, as in heavy use of synthesizers.  What do I know?


Five Stones:


Big/Fat/Full
Tight/Loose/Jammy

Radiant

Emancipation proclamation

Gemounious* 


*a word I just made up to suggest the twelve, jewel-studded gates to the city of God singing together in vibrant harmonic unity.





Short play:

If medieval philosophers asked the question, “How many angels can dance on the head of the pin?” --  then modern day listeners to Cosmic Cathedral may ask … “How many trilling, ecstatic crescendos can you stuff in a given composition?

Deep Water, by the newly christened Supergroup “Cosmic Cathedral" is an hour long, melodic, rock-jazz extravaganza, featuring the rhapsodic interplay and glass-tight harmonies of four world class musicians--and their sound man. 


Step up to the Plate:

Neal Morse: Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals. In association with Spock’s Beard, the TransAtlantic, the Neal Morse Band, and numerous solo projects.  Neal seems capable of playing three sound boards at breakneck speed, concurrently.


Phil Keaggy: Vocalist, Guitarist extraordinaire, (of Glass Harp, and multitudinous band, solo, and collaborative works.)

Chester Thompson: Drums, Percussion, having played with Genesis and Frank Zappa

Byron House: Bass, Fretless Bass,  (Robert Plant, Alisson Krauss, Dolly Parton --and many more)

Jerry Guidroz: Alchemist Sound-Man. 

(     )  Additional flute, horn, strings, sax and bg vocal people. 






According to Cosmic Cathedral’s promo materials, much of the album was created from jam sessions where Morse’s long-time audio partner Jerry Guidroz put the best parts together, then Morse and the band developed them into songs and epics. “Much of the album, and certainly “Time To Fly”, came directly from the jam sessions, where we were spontaneously creating in the room. Even a lot of the lyrics just came out of our mouths! It was amazing!”

As per the lyrics, they are straight up jubilee. Look for radiant, unfettered Joy.

--
For a quick peek -- and to see if this is in your wheelhouse, check out this jammy video: Launch Out



Long Play

Tooling around the internet and looking at half a dozen Youtube reviews, I find that all the reviewers thus far, are approaching “Deep Water” as a Neal Morse Project.  That makes a level of sense.  From the flurry of opening keys, to the long compositions and multilayer instrumentals, Deep Water radiates Morse sensibilities. Beyond that, Neal has an established following in the Prog Rock community, spanning  decades. (Neal has a catalog of works both prior to, and following his conversion to Christianity.) Some of his older fans dig the new sounds, but endure his lyrical shift. Others ask…Why deny the artist what drives his art?


As for me, I couldn’t be happier.  I've been playing Deep Water by Cosmic Cathedral for almost five days straight (while editing photos). I just can't get enough.  Which is odd.  Folks who know my ear know that I gravitate to under-produced, folky fare of minor hue.

With exceptions. Truth is, I'm a committed Keaggy fan, across iterations. I’m a newer fan of Neal and his team of Prog Rockers. I tend to spin my Neal while driving down the interstate, way past my bedtime. I listen at full volume with the windows down and the wind in my face. 

Which is just what I did.  About a month ago--to “No Hill for a Climber” -- a recent project by Neal Morse and the Resonance.  One reviewer suggested the ever prolific Neal reinvents himself is by teaming with ever new talent. Whereas Cosmic Cathedral fronts a set of old men, this companionesque work features largely young talent.  All of which makes for a fun comparison.

I wouldn't claim that one group was fundamentally more skilled than the other, especially when  it comes to playing fast, complex compositions. Neal’s young-buck consorts are uber talented, Creative. Fresh. Loud.  (And the ending composition is one of the most startling, horrendously-beautiful things I have ever heard!)



By way of contrast the old guys are also.. fast, loud, and inventive, but differently.

It’s a hard idea to put my finger in, but the old guys just feel more relaxed. 

Call it synergistic ease -- that place where musicians thrive off of each other, feeding and receiving.  


I am thinking now of a state of play with descriptors that sound like contradictions:

loose/tight. chaotic/controlled. Given to muscle memory and surprise.

Responding and leading. Mastery and freedom. 

Jazzesque.


As for the individual contributors. It is hard for me to adequately describe the contributions of Thompson (Drums) and House (Bass), just like it’s hard to describe the glory of a car by speaking of its drive shaft or tires.  All I know is that the sound is fat, full, and funky.

Indeed, there are times I listen to drumming and wonder, how many levels of percussion are present, hidden in the mix?  Or … I hear the ever grooving bass break out in a thudding melodious flurry.

Then there is Neal, his dizzy break neck self. (I sometimes wonder what Bach would think if he were here to hear counterpoint at “velociter ludere.”)

And finally, Phil
I know that Keaggy is a humble man, but there is just no tone-color like Keaggy guitar.  I hear moss, mauve, lavender, saffron, and jade…:)

But mostly, to my surprise… his voice.  Not only as a compliment to Neal, but as a stand alone singer.  By the time we get to the end, his voice belting “LIFE” sounds downright seraphimic!


Thanks too, to the flute, horn, and sax people.  Love it.



On Joy


Perhaps the thing that separates Deep Water from Neal's larger body of work is the “joy-ratio.”  Neal has long been a vessel of jubilee, but many of his compositions turn up the knob on frenetic discord. Neal is a dramatist, with a story to tell. There is probably not an album that Neal does not allude to his dallies with the kingdom of darkness. I'm not sure what form his depravity took,  (with songs written directly to Author of Confusion, ie. the Devil), but here, liberation holds the day.

Deep Water speaks to his (their?) journey. Call it testimony. Call it Emancipation Proclamation. Whatever the label, the ratio is different.  Less minor, more major, culminating in outlandish praise. 

Throughout the composition, Neal and friends becken listeners to launch into deep water. So I think… What IS the deep water?  -- The unknown?  The inscrutable, packed with mystery and life? … The end of self sufficiency and safety?  


Yes.  and more.  Near the end of the album we learn that Jesus is, himself, the depth.


So what is Deep Water but an invitation to

Come to the river…the fountain, the sea

that deep and glorious ocean of life, which is Christ himself.


(I find that Gospel themes riddle Neal’s work, but often at a level below the surface.  Here they shout in a way that one reviewer described “full frontal”  And so it goes.)


At least three reviewers questioned the inclusion of “I Can't Make It.” I understand, sonically -- It is a different sound. Call it counterpoint, Call it texture. But I find it thematically essential. How much brighter is the day when liberated from the darkness.. 


The singing Neal plainly states that he is in need of something he could not do for himself. He stands in need of saving. He stands in need of a Savior. And more. He has been saved. From perdition. From himself.  From a life in the shallows of mere sensual pursuit.  I figure that “if those who are forgiven of much, love much” then those who have been liberated from concrete evil find cause for concrete joy.


Joy is a Supernatural Grace.


So, bottom line--

Deep Water is a sonic feast-- 

an invitation to enter into

supernatural grace, found in Christ.


Come on in.
The Water is Deep.  And Living.




---

Random Notes:

The name “Cosmic” really does match the scale of these lines:
“Oh the love that made the plan
that takes the brokenness of man away
And in the gap there stands the one
who holds the wind and tells the sun to stay…

This line made me laugh:   I thought of God as Captain Bligh


Threshold Harmonies.  Through DW, I hear something I call threshold harmonies. I am not sure if I am hearing 2, 4 or 12 voices… but all of our singers plus themselves, layered together arrive like a singular shout.  Then add organ, bass and horn and I wonder… How many notes can a moment hold?

Digging the Steely Dan vibe of Born to Fly.

The lyric, “I was born with broken wings”  would make Augustine proud.

The abrupt end and transition from “Deep Water Suite 1 Intro” into “DWS 2 Launch Out” drives my ear crazy.  It sounds like a glitch. Not sure if it is creative, stupid, or meant to mask an ending that just didn't pan out.  (However, when I listened to both tracks at full volume, the transition wasn't as jarring as it was at office volume.)

I am a little perplexed by the lyrics of Nightmare in Paradise  (it’s brilliant and Neal) but seems out of step with the flow of the album.  Or maybe not.  If there is an easy substitute for the waters of the deep, it might be the shallow, tepid water of our electronic gadgetry culture.

Keaggy’s guitar riff at the end of Walking in Daylight, followed by the Deep Water Introduction, drives my synesthesia crazy. My brain is spitting colors left and right. Then when we get to the 1:36 mark of the Nightmare song my brain wells with melon, rhubarb, and lime. Oh…and the storm song.  Oh, OH MY.  You should feel what I see.  I love storms.





Deep Water at Band Camp (with quality download)
Deep Water on Spotify
To Buy Double-Vinyl or CD from Neal Morse/Radiant Records.


















Saturday, August 10, 2024

Spinning on a Cosmic Dime: Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy

Artists: Jeff Johnson and Phil Keaggy Album: Spinning on a Cosmic Dime

Release:  In waves, summer of 2024

Genre: Instrumental… acousta-lectric fusion, cinematic joy

Johnson brings piano, ambience, quirky percussion, and mixing chops-- Keaggy brings all manner of splendid guitars: acoustic, electric, and bass.

Exclusively available on Bandcamp 8/23/24

All other music services beginning 9/6/24



Short play
Have you ever seen a family with a bevy of kids…each a variation on a theme, each a little different---with one, just a tad bit different than the others?

Step to the plate, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime -- Johnson and Keaggy’s fifth instrumental child, following Frio Suite, Water Sky, Cappadocia, and Ravenna.

Like its predecessors, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime (hereafter Spinning) showcases a stunning blend of “New Age stylings”  with touches of Art-Rock and World Music.  Spinning opens with what sounds like a nod to the Tibetan Himalayas, then dallies with touches of Latinesque guitar.

Like its siblings, Spinning features eight long songs, each a symphonic tone poem made of shifting movements.

Like its siblings, Spinning is layered and complex, twining acoustic and electric worlds.

So what makes Spinning different?
In a trio of words, Cush, Absence, and Gorgeous-Turbo.




Long Play
Quality has long been a defining characteristic of all things Johnson/Keaggy, but there is something about Spinning that feels like a Rolex or a Bentley or Nikon Z9--- whatever your standard for a fine fitting door. It simply clicks, or plays like butter and brass.

Then there is that absence.
Keaggy and Johnson, (but especially Johnson) have long courted melancholy-spare, even the dark night of the soul.  But apart from a cut or two running tranquil, there is nary a whiff of the somber--this whole work runs mellow to joyous. It isn't raucous happy, more like a glowy, Saturday-morning happy.


Finally, Spinning dishes out a sound that I  (for lack of a better phrase) call, gorgeous turbo---make that effervescent trot, splendiferous energy, or radiant pulse.  When you hear it you'll know. How much more honey-muscle joy can you press into sound!




In a quick conversation with Johnson, he mentioned that Spinning came together with greater ease and speed than earlier works. My sense: This work is no less demanding than its siblings--the ease testifies to comfort and intuition. By now, each man can complete the other's musical thoughts. There is a sense in which Spinning may be deemed more accessible than the earlier offerings.  Again, not a matter of reach, but rather, thematic unity and tone. Spiritual Vibe: I suppose the title, Spinning on a Cosmic Dime could have been used to convey the idea that we are a lonely speck of dust spinning through the dark abyss. Or… it could be used to fan a sense of gratitude and wonder. Here we are, on a bejeweled bundle of life, spinning through the singing heavens.  Like their elder brother Sebastian Bach, Keaggy and Johnson create compositions that span the arc from sacred to secular.  I might wish for a better word than secular as I do not mean music without sacred weight, just not music that shouts “churchy. Case in point, the instrumental collaborations between Jeff and Phil employ titles anchored in place, or natural phenomena. The sound and vibe is naturalistic (with exception made for sacred spaces).  Spinning on a Comic Dime flows from the spiritual act of wonder--a common precursor to Christian praise.  Beyond that, these works exude the “fruit of the Spirit.” When I hear Spinning I hear audio manifestations of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control! And so it goes, a work can be both naturalistic, and steeped in holy goodness.


For those still here: When Johnson first introduced his second album, Water Sky I figured that it and his subsequent works with Keaggy might chase water themes… with future efforts given to the Jordan, Colorado, or Amazon. After Cappadocia came out, I wondered if the team might be tracing seasons in disguise. Now with number five out, all my attempts to trace a coherent collection rationale (save good music) are busted, though I still like the seasonal motif. As for similarities, I still tend to lump the first two together, the second two together, and now the fifth, a retrospective maverick.


Frio suite
Month: November, albeit an Arkansas’s November with multi-hued sweetgum and ruby oaks.

 

Water Sky
Month: February 

Ostensibly the leanest and darkest of the set (and a personal fave). 

While darker in tone, February is not without brilliant and overpowering light!


Cappadocia
Month: April, May or October? For whatever reasons this is my most played of the set, perhaps for its sense of mystery. 


Ravenna
Month: August or September? Hot mediterranean days, cool nights and some of the liveliest, rockingest numbers in the set.
Spinning on a Cosmic Dime
Month: June (though not an Arkansas June, more a northern-June). The colors are melon and rhubarb, not blistery. This is the music I want to play when friends come to the house and we sit in a soft summer night, happy with wine.

On a personal note:

I was pleased to provide Johnson with a timelapse video from this year's astonishing Solar Eclipse. The setting: Arkansas’ own Cedar Falls of Petit Jean State Park, with three hours smashed into seconds. Speak of Cosmic Wonder!