Imaginary Cities
Studio album by
the Chris Potter Underground Orchestra
ReleasedJanuary 16, 2015
RecordedDecember 2013
StudioAvatar, New York City
GenreJazz
Length71:09
LabelECM 2387
ProducerManfred Eicher
Chris Potter chronology
The Sirens
(2013)		 Imaginary Cities
(2015)		 The Dreamer Is the Dream
(2017)

Imaginary Cities is a studio album by the Chris Potter Underground Orchestra recorded in December 2013 and released on ECM in January 2015, Potter's second album for the label.[1][2] The ensembles features the return of his "Underground Quartet"—consisting rhythm section Craig Taborn, Adam Rogers, and Nate Smith—alongside vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Scott Colley, bass guitarist Fima Ephron, and a string quartet.

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
All About Jazz[3]
All About Jazz[4]
Allmusic[5]
The Buffalo News[6]
Blurt[7]
Financial Times[8]
The Guardian[9]
Irish Times[10]

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 41⁄2 stars stating "Potter's writing on Imaginary Cities engages every aspect of his jazz palette. It embraces modern classical music as part of a striking whole. It is his most ambitious project to date, and arguably his most expertly articulated."[5]

The Guardian's John Fordham noted, "This feels like a work in progress with a fascinating future."[9]

Jeff Simon writing for The Buffalo News commented, "The result is utterly spectacular, I think. It’s a disc that it is completely fresh and idiomatically only itself, with great solos all through it, not least of all by Potter on tenor and soprano saxophone and bass clarinet."[6]

All About Jazz correspondent John Kelman observed "with Imaginary Cities Potter has created the first real masterpiece of 2015. A profound paradigm shift for the saxophonist, Imaginary Cities suggests that the end point of Potter's potential seems still very far beyond the horizon."[3] Another review by Karl Ackermann stated "Imaginary Cities is an expansive album expressing divergent motifs linked together through a central theme. The septet is taut and adventurous; the strings impassioned and thoughtful and Potter's playing is his best to date. Though he emerged as a leader two decades back seemingly fully-formed in every creative aspect, he continues to evolve and surprise. Imaginary Cities is a superb album on every level."[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Chris Potter

  1. "Lament" − 8:07
  2. "Imaginary Cities 1: Compassion" − 8:34
  3. "Imaginary Cities 2: Dualities" − 8:44
  4. "Imaginary Cities 3: Disintegration" − 7:23
  5. "Imaginary Cities 4: Rebuilding" − 11:33
  6. "Firefly" − 8:37
  7. "Shadow Self" − 6:09
  8. "Sky" − 12:02

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Between Sound and Space, accessed January 8, 2018
  2. ↑ ECM Records catalog, accessed January 8, 2018
  3. 1 2 Kelman, J. All About Jazz Review, January 6, 2015
  4. 1 2 Ackermann, K. All About Jazz Review 2, January 8, 2015
  5. 1 2 Jurek, Thom. Chris Potter – Imaginary Cities: Review at AllMusic. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  6. 1 2 Simon, Jeff (15 January 2015). "Disc reviews: Chris Potter, American Horn Quartet, Marilyn Manson,". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  7. ↑ Toland, Michael (13 January 2015). "CHRIS POTTER UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA – Imaginary Cities". Blurt. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
  8. ↑ Hobart, Mike (23 January 2015). "Chris Potter Underground Orchestra: Imaginary Cities — review". Financial Times. Retrieved 12 March 2020.
  9. 1 2 Fordham, J. The Guardian Review, January 23, 2015
  10. ↑ Larkon, Cormac (6 February 2015). "Chris Potter Underground Orchestra: Imaginary Cities - Album Review". Irish Times. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
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