Transcending the Enlightenment – One Oneiric Performance at a Time

Krakow’s Cloth Hall is certainly worth a visit if you’re new in town but given the city’s history of music festivals and concerts as well as its reputation for attracting various artistic types, it’s not the first place to recommend for live music. Not even close. That is until you learn an avant garde act such as Oneiric Dunes is playing. The duo consists of the unmistakable Ethan Smith (alto sax and flute) and local multi-instrumentalist, fellow bandmate (Afronauts) and luthier Grzegorz Kosowski (electric/acoustic guitar and effects, ocean drum), who together produce an impressive display of mesmerizing ambient dreamscapes that only a proper museum could do justice as far as set and setting are concerned. 

I had the privilege of seeing their debut performance ten months prior at Hotel Cracovia where they dazzled the audience with their enchanting, ethereal instrumental set. That show was set against the backdrop of abstract paintings part of the Art Color Ballet exhibit, which was very fitting given the unique, modern instrumentation and musical arrangements by the duo. This time around they had a name for their two-man project, Oneiric Dunes, which turned out to be very appropriate as the set was chock-full of dreamy instrumental pieces that made up the bulk of the performance.

Much like their debut gig, the duo used multiple instruments in a brilliantly layered arrangement that at times put you into a meditative trance and at other times pulled you into another reality. Smith’s alternating between seductive saxophone melodies and hypnotic flute blended wonderfully with Kosowski’s delay and reverb-heavy noodling with additional instrumentation taking the form of an ocean drum and bells. The songs were also randomly peppered with numerous samples, including Terrence McKenna, who is known for his deep, transcendental, substance-induced psychonautic musings, such as:

Given the depth, space and transcendental soundscapes that Smith and Kosowski take us through, this quote appropriately sums up the overall vibe of their live sets.  With numbers such as “Waiting For The Wind” and “The Kombucha Song”, the duo goes on a journey filled with melancholic beauty, at times sounding slightly jazzy, somewhat even loungey, but most certainly tranquilizing. It seems as though the songs are encouraging you to slow down, take a few deep breaths and let yourself melt into the surroundings. Smith’s alternate use of the sax and flute added to Kosowski’s looped layers of soothing jazzy guitar riffs and spacey delay effects take the listener through time and space. Both band members took the opportunity to show off their skills with extended solos as well. It’s difficult to say whether this was masterful improvisation or meticulously rehearsed, perhaps a bit of both, but both the sax and guitar came together later on in a duet to fill out the song and reinforce it with melodic structure. This section in particular was very reminiscent of Buckethead’s acoustic album Colma, with its sadly beautiful yet calming mood.

Just over halfway through the set, the musical trajectory shifted somewhat to a more acoustic vibe, which also included an ocean drum and flute with a technique that didn’t sound too far off from a South American pan flute. This combination conjures images of a psychedelic ceremony on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. The gentle waves of the ocean drum, the whale-like call sounds of Kosowski’s guitar and the hypnotizing melodies of Smith’s flute take the listener to a reality very reminiscent of an ayahuasca ceremony. At face value, the museum’s 19th century paintings and sculptures seemed to clash with the psychedelic sounds reverberating throughout the room, however the acoustics couldn’t have been more suitable, adding a boomy, echoey element to the show that few other venues could provide.

The set did require the listener’s attention however, as it seemed to have a message to convey. At times it felt like more than just a musical performance in a museum. This was some very fine storytelling – albeit in musical form. Considering the setting was in a museum containing very fine 19th century Polish works of art, the mood initially seemed rather serious, but the delicateness of Smith’s sax-playing and Kosowski’s jazzy overtones and guitar loops sent the listener on a very relaxing journey through the space-time continuum.

Personally, I would have liked to see some visual accompaniment to the lush and soothing soundscapes in the form of colourful fractals and infinite geometric patterns spiralling out into eternity. One could argue that the Enlightenment, Romanticism and Impressionism-era paintings and sculptures provided a nice artistic setting for the music, however the overall mood and the themes presented during the performance certainly call for something a little more mind-bending and, dare I say, kaleidoscopic, as these two distinctive styles are rarely juxtaposed.

The final piece was another very organic and comforting jam, this time going back to electronic guitar filled with swills and arpeggiated chords sprinkled with Smith’s smooth saxophone noodling. If there is one bit of criticism to make, it would be that I was hoping for a more captivating, grandiose finale with a loud and/or intense climax, one that grabs the audience by the collar and blasts it into the depths of the cosmos with the Earth disappearing in the rear-view mirror. Perhaps that’s wishful thinking on my part, but not impossible given the musical abilities displayed by Oneiric Dunes. One can keep dreaming though. Perhaps on the next transcendental voyage.