Peace Flag Ensemble Noteland

Peace Flag Ensemble is an experimental jazz collective from scattered points across Saskatchewan. Their debut album, Noteland, is available June 18, 2021 on We Are Busy Bodies.

Noteland is an exercise in pure collaboration. Built around Jon Neher’s piano improvisations, it is free flowing in form and meter. Each member contributed freely but also remained open to having their playing completely recontextualized. Travis Packer’s electric bass is tightly moored to the piano while Dalton Lam and Paul Gutheil, trumpet and saxophone respectively, drift between melodic passages and textural elements. The album was produced by ambient artist Michael Scott Dawson, who also contributes electronics, guitars, and field recordings to the collective. The result is a pastiche of improvisation, composition, and collage that cycles through quiet moments of imperfection and discomfort followed by peaceful resolutions. It draws from such influences as Keith Jarrett and Mark Hollis.