Mar 29 2014
Håkon Stene – “Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal”
On his new album Lush Laments for Lazy Mammal, percussionist Håkon Stene works the fields of minimalism, of meticulous compositions, expressed patiently, and emitting ambient sounds of an abstract nature. It’s a bit of a change of course for Stene, whose previous work is more typified by atonality and dissonance, of experimental constructions built with an economy of sound. Stene’s work with the Asamisimasa Ensemble, Nils Økland, and Jon Andreas Håtun illustrate his flexibility with unconventional dialects and modes of delivery.
Your album personnel: Håkon Stene (acoustic guitar with ebow, bowed marimba, electric guitar, keyboards, piano, quartertone vibraphone, vibraphone) and guests: Christian Wallumrød (piano), Heloisa Amaral (piano), Tanja Orning (cello), and Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen (cimbalom).
Stene contributes just one original composition to the affair. Christian Wallumrod, who guests on this recording, also contributes a composition to the effort. The others belong to fellow minimalists Gavin Bryars and Laurence Crane, whose aesthetic sensibilities are clearly birds of a wing for Stene. Perhaps the best example of these composers’ similar flight patterns can be found in the Crane composition “Riis,” originally adopted by Crane’s Apartment House ensemble… Stene’s rendition mirrors the original with a series of long drones pulsing intermittently, of keyboard washes of harmonic warmth, walking a near identical path as the original.
There are several shorter pieces. “Holt” and “See Our Lake I” consist of unhurried vibraphone notes marking the path of long keyboard drones, whereas “Sit” and “Prelude for HS” are merely deep whispers, sensed more than heard, the former vocalized by keyboards and the latter by vibes and cello.
“Hi Tremolo” brings an urgency to the recording, with its rising tides of cimbalom and piano shifting between a serenity that lulls the ear into a state of passivity before transforming into something far more intense and foreboding.
“Low Genths” features the piano and composition of Christian Wallumrod, a contemporary composer who sits on the very cusp of Jazz as he concocts his intoxicating displays of folk and classical. “Low Genths” is a swirling current of piano, its tight circles interrupted here and there by sonic wedges of Stene’s vibes, giving a sense of snow drifts carried by stiff winds through a town… circular patterns that alter course as they collide with the standing structures of a city landscape, revealing an elegance both atypical and affecting.
The album closes with “Blue Blue Blue,” and like “Bobby J” before it, this song speaks to the album’s spaciousness, its patient expressionism, and its predisposition toward an economy of sound.
A mesmerizing album with an enchanting point of view.
Released on Hubro Music.
Music from the Oslo, Norway scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon CD
Jul 4 2014
Moskus – “Mestertyven”
Their new album, Mestertyven, was recorded in a church in a tiny town in Norway, though this doesn’t have any causal effect on their sound, as their debut album, Salmesykkel, possessed a similar disposition (review HERE). That said, switching out a studio environment for something with the ambiance of age, in addition to the switch from grand piano to upright makes this a more intimate affair, and the disjointed music becomes more personable and simpler for the ear to gather up.
Most appealing about the recording are those moments when the trio suddenly comes together in unison, providing a bridge between the disjointed tunes and adding a necessary melodicism and rhythmic cohesiveness. That the deconstructed piano-led jazz tune “Fjesing” transitions into the pop tune ditty of “Tandem med Sankt Peter” is a welcome bit of contrast, and the way in which the unpredictable tides of “Yttersvingen” and the staggered slow crawl of “Jag är ett ägg” lead into the melodic wind sprint of “Rullings” and the similarly inclined, glittering starlight of “Lille Trille” provide not only infusions of beauty, but also a decisive context in which to view those tunes comprised of pieces that don’t so easily snap into place.
The album closes out, first, with the pretty lullaby of “Tradisjonskvelern,” a simple tune that inspires the nuance of dreams, and then, second and final, the murmur of “Gammel-Erik,” a piece that encapsulates the trio’s overarching solemn tone… a quality that serves as the glue to all of the jumbled, disjointed tones and rhythms that comprise this charming music.
Your album personnel: Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson (double bass), Anja Lauvdal (piano), and Hans Hulbækmo (drums).
Released on the Hubro Music label.
Jazz from the Trondheim, Norway scene.
Available at: eMusic | Amazon: CD
– MP3
– Vinyl
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By davesumner • Beyond Jazz Reviews, Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2014 Releases • 0 • Tags: Beyond Jazz, Hubro Music, Moskus