Editor's Info:
Guitarist/composer Liberty Ellman's second Pi recording as a leader, Ophiuchus Butterfly, is an initially striking and ultimately deeply satisfying set chronicling six musicians, ten pieces and one ambitious, personal and utterly mature sensibility. Ellman's guitar ability and style are undeniable here, but this isn't a "guitar" album.

"I'm interested in making a solid album from start to finish with regards to the writing, ensemble and the quality of the recording. It's more than just a document of the moment in this case. To me, guitar chops are only a piece of the puzzle. However many guitar solos fit into the larger scheme is just determined by what the music requires."

The music, in any case, is remarkable. Whether it's the tight ensemble playing, rigorous writing, dazzling counterpoint and dauntingly propulsive no, make that just plain funky grooves of "Tarmacadam", or "Ophiuchus Butterfly", the rich, eerie harmonies of the postmodern blues ballad "Aestivation", or the electronic/acoustic hybrid sound experiments of "Snow Lips" or "Borealis", this are bracingly original, detailed compositions performed by a sextet that's more than equal to their technical and emotional demands.

"I've been trying some music that has a more ambitious, composed element to it, and I wanted to expand the ensemble a bit to achieve certain textures," Ellman recalls, "including having a really thick low end, which can emphasize the groove. The bass and the tuba are sometimes doubling and other times complementing each other underneath what's happening with the horns and guitar. The alto, tenor and guitar play these interlocking melodies and create this rich, contrapuntal fabric."

While this is quite definitely ensemble music, it's still music that lets the individual players express their personalities in its roiling, shifting structures - Ellman and saxophonists Steve Lehman and Mark Shim passing melodi.......
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