A Silence Opens
Out Of Your Head, 2026
9/10
The iconoclastic outfit Columbia Icefield consists of Nate Wooley, Susan Alcorn, Ava Mendoza, and Ryan Sawyer, who each bring their own inimitable talents to this experimental and dizzying album.
“El Derecho I” opens with just Wooley’s whistling for the quick start, and “Howard Beach” follows with 12 minutes of jazz influences via Wooley’s rich sax, before Sawyer’s drumming acrobatics and Mendoza’s dense guitar enters the rock fueled climate.
In the middle, “El Derecho 3” uses a choir who harmonize without any actual words, while “We Say Goodbye Twice/Wildwood Flower” focuses on atmosphere thanks to the gentle guitar, intimate horn, brushed drums and Alcorn’s strategic pedal steel.
Residing late in the listen, “You Taste” is an exercise in tonality that leads bare but becomes a giant swell of avant-garde, jazz-rock that’s thick, and “El Derecho 5” finishes with whistling and ambience that’s mesmerizing.
A record that pays tribute to the greats Ron Miles and Susan Alcorn, this final installment from Columbia Icefield showcases their free jazz and improvised brilliance that no one else will ever be able to recreate.
Travels well with: Tomas Fujiwara- Dream Up; Webber/Morris Big Band- Unseparate