(Self-released, digital)
Psychologist, author, sculptor and retired University of Vermont professor Herb Leff is secretly one of the most prolific musicians in the Green Mountain scene. The octogenarian has released more than 30 albums on Bandcamp since 2022 and amassed thousands of listens on SoundCloud.
His latest album is COOL-FUSION FIRE, a record that exists in some strange space at the intersection of free jazz, ambient and avant-garde classical. Leff builds his sound collages in his home studio, which he dubs “the Etherium,” a room packed with instruments, from keys to drums to xylophones.
Less like linear songs than abstract paintings with sound, Leff’s compositions vacillate between icy, expansive numbers that use space as an instrument and almost psychedelic sonic freak-outs. “Fusion V” sounds like someone took a video of their cat walking on a keyboard, with random notes spilling out in search of a key. But Leff knows when to corral his rogue sounds and bring them to heel or let them coalesce into larger movements.
In the album’s liner notes, Leff says his goal with COOL-FUSION FIRE is to “energize and intrigue.” He certainly succeeds at the latter; the record is as unpredictable as it is unconcerned with the linear. Leff’s songs poke at the dark recesses of the mind, against the desire for form and hooks, intros or codas, and deliver instead an expanding galaxy of sound.
This article appears in August 19 • 2026.
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