"Strains of Mingus’ orchestral concepts are evident, yet a Brechtian feeling never appears far off, particularly in “Disillusionment” on which Cardinaux sings the words in tandem with piano, doubled by alto. By the time the rhythm section joins in, the leader’s solo, a single-handed, spacious line, sounds as faltering and wounded as the title would indicate. Intriguing is the role of the bass throughout: an ongoing collaborator of Cardinaux, Thomsen is prominent, adding gripping countermelodies and rhythmic challenges to the music, somewhat reminiscent of Scott LaFaro’s iconic vision, though of a more pensive sort. A musical highlight is “Theme”, the primary melody of which is a wonderfully stressful jaunt of liberated harmony before erupting into an Eric Dolphy-esque saxophone solo fading into the seeming night. Much of the poetry herein, primarily drawn from Cardinaux’ 2020 book Around the Faded Sun, could be labeled experimental (“In the newspaper of the future / w...

"Strains of Mingus’ orchestral concepts are evident, yet a Brechtian feeling never appears far off, particularly in “Disillusionment” on which Cardinaux sings the words in tandem with piano, doubled by alto. By the time the rhythm section joins in, the leader’s solo, a single-handed, spacious line, sounds as faltering and wounded as the title would indicate. Intriguing is the role of the bass throughout: an ongoing collaborator of Cardinaux, Thomsen is prominent, adding gripping countermelodies and rhythmic challenges to the music, somewhat reminiscent of Scott LaFaro’s iconic vision, though of a more pensive sort. A musical highlight is “Theme”, the primary melody of which is a wonderfully stressful jaunt of liberated harmony before erupting into an Eric Dolphy-esque saxophone solo fading into the seeming night. Much of the poetry herein, primarily drawn from Cardinaux’ 2020 book Around the Faded Sun, could be labeled experimental (“In the newspaper of the future / wounds were read / by light cast on sky”), but then so much of the music, too, fits this mold. But the symbolism’s strength in memories of 9/11 (“I rage at the sky in blue”) and its aftermath of white supremacy ring out with clarity."
―John Pietaro, on A Living Past
New York City Jazz Record, 2020...

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