The Appearance Of Colour is said to be just the fourth solo album by John Metcalfe in a career that spans over 30 years. Metcalfe co-founded the highly regarded Duke Quartet, in which he still plays viola. He has worked with Coldplay, Simple Minds, The Pretenders, and Peter Gabriel and others over the last two decades.
This is one of those albums best experienced without a lot of setup except to say that Metcalfe’s sound is accesssible, friendly, musically investigative and more complex than a first listen will reveal. To be sure it’s a progressive work, thorougly composed and somewhat unassuming in texture. Is it worldly? Indeed! Moreover, it’s worth having in your world music library.
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