On Land’s End Eternal, Cole Pulice, an Oakland-based electroacoustic saxophonist, charts a course through meditative ambient jazz that resembles a topographical map of liminal spaces, although the ‘Hidden Nook’ referred to in the album’s centrepiece is a real place, “a park in San Francisco, a beach with a rocky shoreline and the capacity to evoke the sensation of an edge.” The album marks a personal shift in their work, now infused with the surprising addition of the electric guitar. Released last month on Leaving Records, it was mixed by Pulice and Chuck Johnson (who also mastered the album).
The introduction of the electric guitar came about as a result of a serendipitous loan from a friend. A new instrument to them, Pulice approached the instrument with a playful curiosity, with a “child’s brain”. Such freedom might be likened to a Coltrane moment, a spiritual awakening, one that forms the foundation for this album. The centrepiece, a three-part suite, A Hidden Nook Between Worlds, showcases this newfound chemistry. Here, live signal-processed saxophone and electric guitar intertwine, creating a fragile yet resonant dialogue.
Even the album’s outlier, In This & Every Life, a piano requiem blending field recordings of a derelict grand with an intimate felted piano, contributes to the overarching narrative of transition and unexpected communion and the ‘notion of a bridge between worlds’.
A personal highlight is the pastoral finale, After the Rain (a homage to John Coltrane’s track of the same name), featuring the choral-like vocals of Maria BC, the only other musician on the album. Written shortly after heavy rains had passed, the piece really does capture the serenity of a moment.
There’s a well-known John Coltrane quote that never seems to lose relevance: “Overall, I think the main thing a musician would like to do is give a picture to the listener of the many wonderful things that he knows of and senses in the universe… That’s what I would like to do. I think that’s one of the greatest things you can do in life, and we all try to do it in some way…” With Land’s End Eternal, Pulice has given us their picture, and it’s a shimmering testament to their singular vision.
Land’s End Eternal (May 9th, 2025) Leaving Records
Bandcamp: https://colepulice.bandcamp.com/album/lands-end-eternal