Black Sun Ensemble Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden SBR 049 songs- St. Cecilia, Walking Down Rosemary Lane, La Paz, Blues For Rainier, Perelandra, Angel de la Guardia, Baphomet's Curse, Eden Song, Sky Pilot Suite, Evil Spirit What started out being a side project between Black Sun Ensemble guitarist/founder Jesus Acedo and multi-instrumentalist Eric Johnson, Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden has become the final collaborative project of new material from Black Sun Ensemble involving Tucson’s Sun Zoom Spark members and their collective, SlowBurn Records.   In fact, Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden maybe the final Black Sun Ensemble record.  After completion of this recording, Jesus Acedo has chosen not to continue with music, spending his time on other endeavors.   Because of this, Across the Sea of Id may be the capstone of a 20+year career that has created some of the most unique rock music of our time.  Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden is a dramatic shift away from the heavy ethno/progressive rock of 2006’s Bolt of Apollo CD to an earlier style of semi-acoustic instrumental music that became Black Sun Ensemble signature sound in the 1980s.   According to Eric Johnson, “…in the end, BSE has truly come full-circle. Across the Sea of Id is the record I have always wanted to make with the Ensemble.  It captures what I think makes Jesus Acedo such a huge talent –its not about the guitar solos, its about the haunting quality of his songwriting.” After recording over 3 hours of material for the project, BSE chose songs that have created a retrospective of past works with new songs.   The material, all penned by Acedo and arranged by Johnson, ranges from not only engaging retellings of early work like the majestic Blues for Rainer and a definitive version of the medley Sky Pilot Suite, but also offers a trance-inspired version of St. Cecilia and a more subdued Baphomet’s Curse from Bolt of Apollo.  However, it is the new material that offers a singular, dreamy vision of BSE’s final works.  The two title tracks, Across the Sea of Id and Eden Song, are reflective, yet hallucinatory explorations into Acedo’s unique compositional and melodic sensibility.   While Angel de la Guardia has a refined yet explosive rock swagger, it is balanced by the meditation Perelandra and La Paz. Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden was recorded and mixed by Eric Johnson at Tucson’s SlowBurn recording studio and was mastered by John Axtell at Signal House Studio.  The art for the album was created by BSE percussionist, John Paul Marchand. Across the Sea of Id is also an enhanced CD, featuring a music video directed by John Paul Marchand of BSE’s signature Dove of the Desert, recorded live on radio station KXCI 91.3FM, Tucson.

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artwork for BSE's Across the Sead of Id was created by John Paul Marchand

Initial word rumored that Black Sun Ensemble's 2008 album might in fact be its last — only time will tell on that score. If so, it's a fine, beautifully moody way to bow out; while not explicitly returning to the band's earliest days, much of Across the Sea of Id has a spare, moodily tripped sound to it that relies on space and the sound of acoustic instruments creating textures and fills that match the queasily electronic flow of the band's compositions. It's also a mix of reinterpretations of past songs and fully new ones, an interesting blend of past and present that serves as both summary and self-contained effort. The core duo of Jesus Angel de Paz and Eric Johnson sound as solid as ever — having seen his sound (and his band) go from obscure, out-of-sync-with-the-times pursuit to touchstone for any number of acts worldwide doesn't seem to have affected Angel de Paz in terms of pursuing his muse. Whether it's the delicate sitar filigrees on "Walking Down Rosemary Lane" or the acoustic guitar amid the echoing feedback tones on "Perelandra," he relies on his and Johnson's abilities to suggest moods strictly through music rather than vocals and succeeds with aplomb. Occasional guest work adds to the sound of the album without changing its straightforward nature — if the saxophone work of Brian Maloney is sometimes uneven, though definitely adding a haunting, lost edge to "Acros the Sea of Id" itself, John Axtell's violin on a remake of the song "Blues for Rainer" is a stellar turn. The highlight is perhaps "Baphomet's Curse," first released in 2006 and turned here into a gently joyful jam that is among the most serenely welcoming work Black Sun Ensemble have ever recorded, a soft sunrise of a performance. -All Music Guide

BLACK SUN ENSEMBLE – ACROSS THE SEA OF ID: THE WAY TO EDEN This latest release finds the core trio of Jesus Angel de La Paz (Acedo), multi-instrumentalist, Eric Johnson, and tenor sax blower, Brian Maloney hitting a magic dozen, although it has been hinted that these may be their final musical utterances. Fittingly, the quartet, featuring percussionist John Paul Marchand and violinist John Axtell reach back to the early catalogue to reinterpret such seminal classics as ‘Blues for Rainer,’ Bolt of Appolo’s ‘St. Cecelia’ (stripped of its original heavy metal thunder) and ‘Baphomet’s Curse,’ and the ‘Sky Pilot Suite.’ One major change that long-time fans will notice is that Jesus has eschewed his trademark, serpentining “Eye of Horus” electric guitar solos for a more acoustic-based album. This may be as close to BSE Unplugged as we are likely to encounter! The songs are, therefore, more melodic and more focused than the free-form jamming we’ve come to expect. Just listen to the gorgeous, floating-on-air melody lines of ‘Walking Down Rosemary Lane’ (a thinly-veiled Bert Jansch tribute?) or the ethereal ‘La Paz,’ as it soars heavenward on patchouli smoke rings. The Middle Eastern flavour of much of the bands’ work is retained via several sitar-drenched tracks, including the title track, which wow and flutters like the glistening Himalayas in the mid day sun. ‘Perelandra’ is a tender, acoustic rumination that occasionally morphs in and out of the riff from The Stones’ ‘Lady Jane,’ while the sedate rendition of ‘Baphomet’s Curse’ sways along like an afternoon siesta in your backyard hammock. There’s a relaxed, spiritual quality to much of the music that’s conducive for self exploration (as evidenced by the album title), resulting in a soundtrack for your voyage on the inner path to self discovery, and if it is indeed the band’s swan song, they go out on a pensive whisper that will be remembered long after the mushroom clouds of prior sonic explosions has settled onto the barren desert floor. (Jeff Penczak)

Jesus Acedo’s Black Sun Ensemble has been recording since the late 1980s, employing a changing mix of musicians and a varied ethnic palette of sounds. After a long hiatus in the 1990s, due to Acedo’s own struggles with drugs and mental illness, the band re-emerged in 1999 with Sky Pilot (from which this disc’s 13-minute instrumental suite is drawn) and has gone on to record three additional full-lengths and a two-disc live album in the 00s. Acedo has hinted that this latest, Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden, may be his last Black Sun Ensemble, and if so, it is a marvelous cap to a long and obstacle strewn career.  Across the Sea of Id revisits the Black Sun Ensemble’s catalogue, resurrecting not just “Sky Pilot Suite,” and “Blues from Rainer” from Sky Pilot but also “St. Cecilia” and and “Baphomet’s Curse” from 2006’s Bolt of Apollo. But where earlier Black Sun Ensemble materials relied heavily on electric guitar, these cuts are softer, warmer and more acoustic. “St. Cecilia” lopes easily along, strummed acoustic chords intersecting with rich tones of bass, a saxophone blaring bright bits of emphasis. “Baphomet’s Curse” layers radiant, slow guitar tones over drum kit and hand percussion. The mood is sunny, hopeful, glowing with positivity. “Blues for Rainer” stretches slow-shifting guitar notes and feathery violin strokes from horizon to horizon, unwinding a measured, meditative melody.  These songs are melodic and easy to listen to, though not by any stretch “easy listening”.  Indeed, “Sky Pilot Suite” is nothing if not challenging, as it plays off droning feedback against a lambent sitar melody and morphs from slow march to urgent freakout. Yet it’s never a strain, just a steady unfolding of ideas, easily followed. The newer material is also quite inviting. For the title track, Acedo hauls out his sitar, plucking a wavery, otherworldly melody in “Across the Sea of Id”. Other new songs, “Eden Spirit” and “Perelandra” return to the acoustic guitar, the notes clear and warm and welcoming. If some psych conjures the cold endless purity of space, Black Sun Ensemble seems to reside in a friendly forest, light shading down between branches, birds singing. -Pop Matters

From Aural Innovations #40 (September 2008) Those who read the review of the last Black Sun Ensemble album in AI #35 and the accompanying interview with Eric Johnson will have noticed his comments about Jesus Acedo's state at the time, and wondered if there might ever be another album from the band. According to the promo sheet the music on Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden, started out as a side project between Jesus Acedo and Eric Johnson, and ended up as what will probably be the finally collaboration between Jesus and the members of Sun Zoom Spark, who are pretty much responsible for having helped Jesus rekindle the Black Sun Ensemble spirit nearly a decade ago. The album is a mixture of re-recordings of older songs plus new material. The music is primarily acoustic driven, dreamy, pleasantly melodic, and spiritually uplifting. Among the highlights on this 11 track all instrumental album is "Walking Down Rosemary Lane". Acoustic guitar dominates but electric guitar floats alongside as well playing sparse, enchanting melodies. Slow paced… dreamy… still psychedelic. Like drifting through the Arizona landscape that's home to these musicians. "La Paz" has a Shoegaze feel, though the psychedelic desert sound is still there. Simple but beautiful guitar soloing plus ditto from the saxophone makes this a short but entrancing piece. Imagine Jesus Acedo replacing Dave Gilmour in Pink Floyd and you might get something like the reworking of "Blues for Rainer". And the tasty violin from John Axtell is a plus. "Across the Sea of Id" features dreamy acoustic magic carpet ride psychedelic Blues. Percussion adds the spacey qualities to the lullaby like acoustic driven "Perelandra". "Baphomet's Curse" is one of the more full band tracks of the set. And even without vocals this is pure SONG. Very nice. "Evil Spirit" is unlike anything I've heard from Black Sun Ensemble. Tough to describe but it kept conjuring up images in my mind of David Lynch films. And then we've got the 13 minute rendition of "Sky Pilot Suite" (the original from the 1999 Sky Pilot album was 22 minutes long). Like the original, this version is characterized by Eastern influenced psychedelia, with lots of sitar, some acid laced guitar, saxophone, and an all around trippy vibe. A great cosmic jam track and the heaviest music of the set. Finally, this is an enhanced CD with a video of "Dove of the Desert". Directed by drummer John Paul Marchand, the visuals alternate between shots of the band playing (including close-ups of Acedo's fingers dancing across the fretboard), photos, shots of the dersert, and psychedelic efx. Very well done. Well… will this really be the last we hear from Jesus Acedo? If so, he's left quite a legacy and I hope he appreciates the push he's gotten from the Sun Zoom Spark gang, because we surely wouldn't have all these great albums on the Camera Obscura label if not for them (AND Camera Obscura honcho Tony Dale). Black Sun Ensemble fans will know this is a must have.

The rumor says that Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden (Camera Obscura) is the final Black Sun Ensemble release. I've been a close follower of Jesus Acedo and Eric Johnson over the years and although I have fond memories of pretty much all of their albums none of them has ever struck me as fully developed as this supposedly last one. It’s not necessarily their best material but it’s been thought through, constructed and sequenced with an attention to details I rarely have seen before. There’s not as much of Acedo's hallucinogenic mantras of scorching guitars as on the previous albums but we get songs that are haunting in their own right, songs that with simple means actually go beyond the more out there stuff. The meandering guitar work moves comfortably around Eastern influences and jazz flourishes and the overall effect is entrancing to say the least. I have no clue how Acedo's fight with his inner deamons is working out these days but if the sound presented here is any indicator I have to say that things are starting to look more optimistic."  - Broken Face

Black Sun Ensemble: Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden  Camara Obscura (CAM083) Across the Sea of Id: The Way to Eden started off as a duo project of the Black Sun Ensemble leader Jesus Acedo and Eric Johnson (Sun Zoom Spark, BSE) but did grow into a full-band album, after all. Compared to the few previous albums it is a more peaceful, serene and acoustic affair. It feels somehow as if Jesus has made peace with the demons that have been haunting him, or maybe the medication has made him to chill out. In every case, this album has a bit more positive, sunny energy than usual, but of course also certain kind of melancholia. The wild and insane solos and harder rocking have made room for atmospheric, soft and ethereal folk-spirited vibes. In addition, the music is completely instrumental again just like during the early days in the 80’s, which I think, is great. There are both re-recorded tracks from the previous albums as well as totally new stuff. The acoustic guitar is playing the main role on the disc, but the electric guitar floats freely in there as well. The electric sitar gives some Eastern, mystical and psychedelic feel. Fender Rhodes adds to the airy, soft atmosphere and along with the tenor saxophone also creates some jazzy elements. Some of the tracks have drums and bass, some percussion and some are rhythmically very minimal. The beautiful, slow and melancholic track “Blues for Rainer” has some excellent violin towards the end, as well. The heaviest, most progressive and longest track is the 13-minute-long (which means heavily shortened!) version of the track ”Sky Pilot Suite”, that has a great, Eastern and psychedelic going and more soloing too. This is perhaps also my favorite, although I do enjoy the rest of the tracks very much as well, especially the soft, very pleasant ”Across the Sea Of Id” that has really superb vibes. Unfortunately this might very well be the last BSE release, but I’m sure fans will be happy with it. How amazing, magical music! The CD also includes a great video for the track ”Dove of the Desert”. Camera Obscura now offers this or any of their six latest releases for 10 dollars each including postage to anywhere on planet!