Cochran & McAllister, Pale Blue Dot (Review in Soundboard, Vol. 51 No. 4)

Soundboard Vol. 51 No. 4

Cochran & McAllister (Matthew Cochran and Matthew McAllister, guitars). Pale Blue Dot. Works by Cochran, Metheny, Towner, Corea, and Zimmer. Sacred Black Records, no number, c. 2025.

This CD memorializes the concert program this fine duo played at the 2025 GFA convention in Louisville. So, risking a charge of narcissism, I will quote from my article about the convention (from Soundboard 51/3): the disc has a “pleasing theme of astronomical vistas, beginning with Mr. Cochran’s Pale Blue Dot. The title comes from the late astronomer Carl Sagan.”

The music features winning dialog between the guitars and moments of delicate beauty. There are five relatively brief movements, including “Routine Interplanetary Violence” and “Aberrations of Light.” It sounds a bit risky out there! At least calm is restored by Mr. Cochran’s beautiful arrangement of Pat Metheny’s Letter from Home. I have loved Ralph Towner’s Icarus since encountering it on a disc by the Paul Winter Consort, of which Towner was then a member. Cochran’s arrangement does not represent the piece very well, being too far from the original, which just drifts by in little snippets. The same is true to some extent in Chick Corea’s best-known piece, Spain. One would do better to hear the original from Return to Forever or one of the innumerable covers. (One of my favorites is the vocal version by Al Jarreau.) As in their concert, the program ends with a suite from Hans Zimmer’s score for the movie Interstellar. It is great to have this evocative and beautiful work available.

There are no program notes, but recorded sound is good. Mr. Cochran took care of all of the technical aspects of the recording. He is one of the few artists who is able to handle this variety of tasks!

– Al Kunze