In general his approach to piano is very modern utilizing bitonality, dissonance, and extended harmonies. LoCascio has a thorough sense of harmony as well as rhythm and it is a pleasure to hear all three musicians work with such artistry. His technical facility, harmonic sophistication and fluid melodic lines reminds US quite a lot of Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock and Jack DeJohnette in the sense that the arrangements are interwoven and collaborative. LoCascio unravels some rather otherworldly progressions that drape the composition with an extra layer of mystery and intrigue.
T**G
In The City Of Lost Things succeeds on more than one level
"When you hear a composition for the first time, the artists have to win you over twice, with their writing and their playing.This can be a challange, though not apparently for Joe LoCascio , whose In The City Of Lost Things succeeds on more than one level. His improvisations are often simple, sometimes intentionally repetitious and never uninteresting. When he feels adventurous, he might nudge his line into modal shapes, studded with dissonant clusters yet centered over a drone as if to keep his explorations anchored to the tune. He avoids chords with his left hand, preferring to arpeggiate the harmony and tie it into counterpoint with the right hand, which allows him to animate his legato phrasing with a suggestion of restless movement. LoCascio's compositions allow room for ideas to flow along a linear path, like a stream through stones that mark his changes. Meters slip in and out of 5/4 or even 11/8, though so smoothly as to not leave a ripple in their wake." - **** (Four stars!) Robert Doerschuk, DownBeat Magazine
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