The Glass Hours

Overlook Linda May Han Oh’s solo work at your own peril. The Malaysia-born, Australia-raised, NY-based double bassist/ composer keeps formidable company, from the trio with Vijay Iyer and Tyshawn Sorey to Dave Douglas and Joe Lovano (and of course the animated band from Soul, which also featured Oh). Adventurous as those settings can be, The Glass Hours showcases an exhilarating set of music for her first album in five years. On 2019’s Aventurine, she featured an audacious blend of her band with a string quartet and vocal ensemble. Here she pares things back to a quintet, making for a leaner, more spry group. The wordless vocals of Sara Serpa (with Oh backing) both ground the proceedings in something that’s hummable but also add dizzying new harmonies to the interplay between tenor saxophonist Mark Turner and pianist Fabian Almazan. Songs charge ahead, linger, clench, unfurl, and move at the speed of life, with drummer Obed Calvaire handling all gear shifts. Motifs curl in on themselves then spin out in multiple directions, like a pinwheel whirling in the hands of a contortionist. “Jus Ad Bellum” and the title track approach the heartbreak of folk song, but Oh and band also rove well beyond jazz towards something akin to rules-ignoring UK progressive rock, building impossibly airy peaks like a mountain-sized meringue.