Misha Panfilov

One of the most intriguing new voices in jazz has been the engrossing Estonian composer and bandleader Misha Panfilov. From his work in lush soundtrack-adjacent scenes to collaborations with ex-Kikagaku Moyo guitarist Tomo Katsuarada and some wide-eared remix work, Panfilov has become a beacon of luminescence both with and without his Septet. The latest release leaves the septet on the sidelines but doesn’t find Misha alone. Alongside the composer’s catalog of multi-instrumentation, including piano, lap steel, harmonium, Mellotron, and more; friends like Katsurada, Joe Harvey-Whyte (The Hanging Stars), Volodja Brodsky, and Ilja Gussarov flesh out the world on Where the Birds Fly until it envelops the listener like a deep shag shawl. A Gaussian blur turns the lights to crystals all around Panfilov’s work, but amid the kaleidoscopic swirl is a verdant lightness that’s always welcome.

Linking the natural to the cosmic, the analog world of Panfilov caresses the listener in bucolic breezes. By the time the listener lights into “Guided by the Wind,” we’re far from the Earth, but the echoes remain. Perfumed in florals and saturated with the kind of aural streaks that could evoke gardens as easily as the glare of starlight, it’s easy to become instantly lost inside the grooves of Where the Birds Fly. Gussarov’s woodwinds in particular send the album soaring on sweetly-scented winds, lacing tracks with downy flutes, clarinets and, sax. As with Brodsky, both are holdovers from the Septet, a thread separate but still woven though the periphery of the new record. With them, Panfilov expands the halo of his sonic world, a verdant forest of groove, adorned with the brightest hues and deepest scents. If you’ve been privy to Panfilov over these past few years, it should hardly be a surprise how great the new record is, but if this is your first outing, it’s a great entry to his world as well.

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