Oscillation Alkemy Kreativity (O.A.K.) is the musical project of Jerry Cutillo. Lucid Dreaming and the Spectre of Nikola Tesla is his fourth release under this moniker. The album was released towards the end of 2022, so I am a little bit late to the party with this review.
Cutillo’s musical career is extensive and includes a Jethro Tull tribute accompanied by original members of the exalted band, an influence which can be heard in parts of this album.
The work is dedicated to the genius of Nikola Tesla, whose inventions form the root of many of the modern gadgets and contraptions we now take for granted, but who suffered throughout his life from theft of his ideas, and he fell out with Thomas Edison with whom he had worked when emigrating to America. In his life, he accumulated 100’s of patents and his life story is a fascinating study. As with many intelligent works, thematically the LP considers the life of the subject also in the context of modern affairs, especially the shocking events being witnessed in Europe now.
David Jackson
Dorie Jackson
Olja Dikajee
Jonathan Noyce
Alex Elena
Laura Piazzai
The album features the musical genius of David Jackson, alongside his daughter Dorie who duets with Cutillo on the opening track. It must be said that anyone who appreciates the vocal and musical intricacies of Jackson’s former band, VDGG, and, indeed, Hamill’s better solo albums will find much to appreciate here.
The line-up is completed by Jonathan Noyce (ex-Tull) on bass, Alex Elena on drums, and the vocalisations of Olja Dikajee and Laura Piazzai (who kindly gave an extensive interview alongside her project mates to this website following the Imaginaerium release, The Rise of Medici). The very talented Cutillo plays all other instruments and is the lead voice throughout.
Everything is Light opens proceedings with an almost translucent set of futuristic noises. That VDGG influence is clear in the wonderfully enigmatic opening lyrical burst, “are you ready for greatness, said the flower to the bee?” The keyboards wander before we get an explosion of noise with Jackson providing his trademark sound, and these bursts are heard throughout the track, but interspersed with some quite lovely delicate vocals, especially the beautiful sound of Dorie Jackson, and flute. There is a wonderfully bonkers sax solo midway through and lovers of “traditional” RPI will enjoy the soaring synths in the finest tradition of that country’s prog heritage. The final minute provides the listener with an ethereal guitar solo accompanied by Jackson’s sax and voices almost poking fun at the world. This is a strong eclectic opening to the work.
The second track is the longest on the album, clocking in over thirteen minutes, broken into seven clear and distinct movements, and is named after the project itself, where Jerry Cutillo's time generator Oscillates Alchemically and Kreatively from the outbreak of the Second World War, an event the scientist witnessed to the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine. There is over a minute of more of those fascinating key oscillations before the flute asserts itself as lead instrument in a movement Tull fans will especially be all over. There are some extremely strong and melodic basslines throughout the entire piece, with Noyce excelling himself. The third part, New York City, is very quirky, a reflection perhaps of the madness Tesla encountered, but fell in love with, upon his arrival in America. Following this, the mood transforms into a symphonic delight, with orchestration and bells riding alongside the keyboards in AC vs DC, an obvious reference point to the genius of Tesla’s work and interactions with Edison, and I think Cutillo on this passage especially lets rip with his obvious admiration of the song’s subject. Black Night Satellite is a keyboard solo piece with Noyce gently underscoring on his melodic bass, and the title of this section is a clever reference to the millennia-old satellite orbiting earth conspiracy theorists thought sent signals to our hero. The piece is suitably spacey and really very good. Dancing a Slow Kolo with the Electric Shadows is a vocal passage with strong keys and percussion which I think could have made for an extremely interesting extended track in its own right. The piece closes with a reprise of the second section featuring spoken voices inspired by Tesla’s research and work. Overall, this epic is a delight to listen to.
Learn to Run in Your Dreams opens the second side of the album. This is a sensitive ballad with delicate piano and orchestral chords accompanying the lovely vocal. Noyce once again provides a strong bass underbelly. This beautiful song references children who are always the innocent victims of our tendency to cruelty and when Jackson enters the fray with his expert work on tin whistle and sax, you really are carried to a higher plain, especially with Cutillo’s short guitar bursts. This wonderful song is embedded below – enjoy and allow yourselves to be taken prisoner.
This is followed by The Comet and the Dreamer featuring the voice of Dikajee. The synths soar but are countered by darker and stronger piano notes alongside bass. When her voice enters a minute and a half in, you are transported to space. It is breathtakingly and achingly lovely. The lyrical passage is essentially a rock operetta. Cutillo’s flute solo is about the finest you will have heard for many a year. The closing passage features a darker guitar riff which is a signifier of the subject facing his demons, but Dikajee has the last word when she, rightly, observes that nothing changes if you fear (your) change.
The penultimate track, White Wings, relates to Cutillo one night dreaming of David Bowie transmuting into a dove, perhaps the same one with which Tesla entertained himself on the windowsill of his hotel room. The transmutation itself at the opening chords is dystopian, but the remainder is not. Vocally, there is a very strong, and enjoyable, Bowie influence, and the orchestration throughout is simply lush. The flute-led closing passage takes one back many years – expansive, thrilling, and strongly pastoral in its impact. The video is embedded below. A treat.
The album closes with The Silver Chord. This features Piazzai whose lovely voice is instantly recognisable riding a symphony between contemporaneity and transcendence. A soaring denouement.
This is a strong album and comes very highly recommended. It is a work demanding careful listening which is amply rewarded and is Cutillo’s strongest thus far. You can find out more at http://www.oaksound.com/
