Australian musician Jules Reidy and Italian percussionist Andrea Belfi—both prominent figures in the global improvisation scene in recent years—have come together for a joint residency that has given rise to this EP, an album that consistently gravitates toward the light. Reidy’s delicately plucked guitar and Belfi’s intuitive yet restrained drumming—neither strictly jazz nor rock—form a unique partnership that seems to reach for the heavens.
Reidy’s untuned guitar often evokes the timbre of a zither, lending the music a certain New Age character. At the same time, subtly sculpted edits introduce growling accents—just present enough to add texture without disrupting the recording’s predominantly unvarnished atmosphere. Belfi stirs with a brush, unexpectedly taps along the record’s pulse with gentle precision, and only occasionally allows a brief outburst of energy to break through. One such moment occurs on Alto, when a minimalist musical structure in the second half gains an electrifying momentum, brushing against the edges of danceability. Then there is »Up«, the longest track on »Dessus Oben Alto Up«, where Reidy’s guitar traverses a landscape of folk influences, evoking both the vast prairie and a sense of spiritual communion with nature. An EP that, despite its minimalist approach, continuously uncovers new sonic possibilities—always pushing in the same direction: toward infinity and beyond.
