Maroon Cloud

Southern California-based flutist and prolific composer Nicole Mitchell offers something in the space between art song, blues oratorio, and free improvisation with *Maroon Cloud*, recorded live at National Sawdust in Brooklyn. The chamber-like quartet instrumentation is stark, with no drums but ample rhythmic connection between the leader, cellist Tomeka Reid, and pianist Aruán Ortiz. In the full-bodied tone and playful poetic imagery—spoken and sung, written and spontaneous—of Fay Victor’s voice, the group finds a focal point. The assertive, soul-heavy “A Sound” is a highlight, though the program is typically more abstract. “Warm Dark Realness” and other movements hint at the nature of the *Maroon Cloud*: for Mitchell, it’s the dark you see with your eyes closed, the space of imagination.