Vista by Peter Chilvers & Jon Durant

English keyboardist and Brian Eno collaborator Peter Chilvers teamed up with American guitarist Jon Durant to create a series of stunningly beautiful aural vistas, which blend ECM inspired chamber jazz improvisation with ambient music. 'Vista' is their debut full length album, following the 'Always Golden Sands' EP released in December 2020.

Chilvers commented, “As a teenager, I fell in love with the great ECM recordings of the 70s and 80s. Working with Jon has felt like travelling back to that period and finding an undiscovered star. It’s been a joyful and effortless recording, a live album somehow recorded despite lockdowns on opposite sides of the Atlantic. I wish I could beam it back to my teenage self.”

The duo settled into a rhythm of working across distant time zones during the pandemic. Tracks often began with a morning keyboard improvisation from Chilvers, which would be embellished and transformed by Durant as daylight hit his side of the Atlantic. Having completed Vista, the momentum built up, and three further tracks emerged. These stood well on their own and were released first as ‘Always Golden Sand’ - a starter to Vista’s main course.

Durant noted, “my favorite aspect of this record is the level of interplay we managed to achieve, especially given the difficult circumstances in which we made this record. Peter’s lovely piano melodies were an inspiration for me to add not just beautiful textures but also play melodically with and around his piano and synths.”

Perhaps as a subconscious reaction to the pandemic lockdown, the album's five tracks evoke imagined landscapes. The opening, shorter tracks Quarantine and Hamlet echo chilly European scenery before Embers stretches out in to the wider endless skies of America.

The expansive “Sunset”closes the album - multiple piano loops slowly build around each other, augmented by Durant’s signature cloud guitars before giving way to a deep dusky atmosphere to close the album. Best enjoyed with a glass of whisky.

"A chance to switch off and drift through time and space. Vista is a perfect antidote to the intense bump and grind that challenges us all." AtTheBarrier.com

Peter Chilvers is a musician and software designer, best known for collaborating with Brian Eno on the iOS applications Bloom, Trope, Scape and Reflection. He has also toured with Karl Hyde (Underworld) and recorded both instrumental albums and collaborations with vocalist Tim Bowness. He continues to work with Brian Eno, finding creative new uses for technology.

peterchilvers.com