Dec 23 2017
Best of 2017 #28: Daniel Herskedal – “The Roc” (Edition Records)
If there exists a societal opinion that tuba is incapable of being the source of beautiful music, then Daniel Herskedal has something to send that premise crashing down. The Roc is arguably the most gorgeous recording of 2017. Built upon the tubist’s personal concoction of modern jazz, chamber and folk, Herskedal adds an intriguing influence of Arabic music to the mix, as well as expands his ensemble with a cellist and violinist. As with previous Herskedal recordings, The Roc is an album overflowing with cinematic imagery, thick beautiful harmonies and melodies as bright and clear as a forest stream. The addition of Arabic music creates a rhythmic environment that brings a life to those elements that breathes an entirely new way, and has the melodic effect of a shapely allure, of providing an enchantment impossible to ignore. This is a phenomenal album from a musician who just keeps raising the bar on his own projects, and exceeding it.
Music from Oslo, Norway.
Read more at Bird is the Worm.
Apr 12 2019
Album of the Day: Daniel Herskedal – “Voyage”
Album: Voyage
Label: Edition Records
Style: Chamber, Arabic, modern jazz
Favorite Track: “The Mediterranean Passage In The Age Of Refugees”
Music from: Oslo, Norway
What I like about it: There may not be a musician on the modern scene who more consistently crafts sound into an atmospheric, thrilling beauty than does Daniel Herskedal. I like how the tubist, one album to the next, keeps expanding on past ideas or incorporating new ones to create something that sounds brand new, while also tying it back to what’s come before… as if a book or movie series where each installment has new characters and plot line, yet falls within a certain continuum that encapsulates everything. On Voyage, Herskedal continues his exploration of Arabic music in a chamber jazz setting, and finds an impressive balance between dramatic and delicate expressions. Can we just have it written into law that Herskedal must record a new album every year?
Your album personnel: Daniel Herskedal (tuba, bass trumpet), Bergmund Waal Skaslien (viola), Eyolf Dale (piano), Helge Andreas Norbakken (percussion) and Maher Mahmoud (oud).
Available at: Amazon | Bandcamp
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Be sure to check out the artist’s site.
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2018 • 0 • Tags: Daniel Herskedal, Edition Records, Eyolf Dale, Oslo