Feb 26 2013
Mats Eilertsen Trio – “Sails Set”
Sails Set, the new release by bassist Mats Eilertsen is a fascinating glimpse into the creative well from which he pulls from. Most tracks are short, acting as de facto interludes for one another. They give little peeks into creative ideas without expressly illustrating the fullness of what those ideas might become. The songs pique curiosity, and it’s as if watching one vignette after the other or, perhaps, viewing waves of light through only one facet of a finely cut diamond.
Stronen’s percussion adds mystery, and without ever really raising its voice, he substantively moves the trio in abstract directions, keeping it from ever becoming just another Nordic Jazz recording. For the most part, his contributions on Sails Set would best be described as mercurial. On track “Orbiting,” unexpected bursts of percussion and unpredictable cadences are the only consistencies. And also on “The Lighthouse,” which whispers a melody over haunted graveyard percussion.
Fraanje meets Stronen half way about half the time. On “Stone and Sand” and “Music Box,” the two engage in a series of percussive entanglements, trading rhythms that, by themselves, would possess no particular meaning, but taken together, make for an intoxicating crosshatch of variable sounds. But on a tune like the title-track “Sails Set,” Fraanje creates a meditative serenity with an economy of well-placed notes that rest plumb against Stronen’s path.
On bass, Eilertsen sticks to two approaches, either working the tune from out front and in the upper registers or from burrowing beneath the melody to gain an earthy resonance. On “Lunar Light,” Eilertsen calls out on bass with both the patience and hypnotic sway of a forest creek while Stronen adds a little rhythmic shading at the edges. Whereas, on “Currents,” they switch roles, and Eilertsen keeps to the shadows while Stronen offers rhythmic concepts with furtive mannerisms.
An album that gives so much with so little and makes the ear crave just a little bit more. Not a bad way to leave the listener looking forward to what comes next.
Your album personnel: Mats Eilertsen (bass), Thomas Stronen (drums, percussion), and Harmen Fraanje (piano).
Released on the Hubro Music label.
Listen to more of the album on the artist’s Bandcamp page.
Music from Eidsvoll Verk, Norway.
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Mar 2 2013
Something Different: Splashgirl – “Field Day Rituals”
A mix of Nordic Jazz, ambient drone, and moody post-rock, the group doesn’t sound like a typical Jazz piano trio. They really don’t sound like anything typical at all, instead appear to have carved out a tiny little niche in the music landscape that they alone abide. They’re definitely something different. And that they appear to have constructed a unique sound all unto themselves, it’s an achievement that deserves recognition. The fact that they also manage to create highly engaging and enjoyable albums means they’ll get a write-up on Bird is the Worm.
Most tracks start with piano at the point, and leading out with bundles of pensive notes. Opening track “Long Story” does just that. Lowe’s piano takes a somber tone, while Knudsrod’s drums adopt a staccato cadence… little bursts of rhythm occasionally offset by short drifting sections.
There is something genuinely disarming about the way piano opens up album tracks. Even on a song like title-track “Field Day Rituals,” which presents an ominous vibe throughout, the piano doesn’t provide a contrast to it so much as imbues it with a distant warmth.
I see the phrase Doom Jazz thrown around a lot when referencing Splashgirl. I get it. I understand why that phrase is used. In the short span of the review, I’ve already used words like ‘ominous’ and ‘pensive’ and ‘somber.’ But doom jazz just doesn’t fit. Any music that has Doom as its primary characteristic is going to be one bereft of hope, absent of an embraceable warmth. That’s not the case with Splashgirl’s music.
Take a track like “Dulcimer.” Yes, it possesses a dramatic bombast. And, yes, there are seriously dark overtones to the song. But just how a thick fog is an inauspicious symbol of bad things to come, there is something undeniably comforting when surrounded by it, swaddled in its ethereal midst. That’s what you get with Splashgirl. Its personality of doom is only a posture experienced from a distance, but when one is immersed in the music, it possesses an endearing snugness easy to warm to.
While many tracks bring dramatic surges of sound and force, some apply a softer touch. “All the Vowels Missing” has a dreamy persona. Thoughtful piano notes create repetitive patterns with bass and drums. And “I Feel Like I Know Here” has the casual drip of piano notes sidled up against some pleasant brush work on drums, though it’s how Myhre’s bass notes come bubbling up to the surface that makes the tune a little more special.
Violist Eyvind Kang makes a guest appearance on a few tracks. His inclusion on this album was an inspired choice. Kang’s violin has lent an alien warmth to the spooky jazz of Bill Frisell on several recordings. On tracks like “Dulcimer” and “Mass,” Kang’s viola brings an element of density to the music, of a weighty substance that is, simultaneously, emitting the soaring freedom stringed instrument are so capable of eliciting. Like viewing a giant bird in graceful flight overhead, covering great speeds with slow ponderous flaps of wings, Kang adds a texture to this music that binds the piano trio’s drifting elements into a cohesiveness far easier to grasp, far simpler to embrace.
Timothy Mason guests on a couple tracks on synths. The electronic effects add a spacey sheen to the music, a texture that doesn’t launch it into Bladerunner soundtrack territory or anything, but one that does definitely add some additional color to the music’s prevailing smokiness.
Field Day Rituals is a bit of a emotional shift from their prior album, 2011’s Pressure. Whereas Pressure had all of the dramatic flair of Field Day Rituals, it came at the listener with a more dynamic presence, one which crackled with life and lightness within a gloomy subset. Field Day Rituals adopts a brooding mien of a weightier attitude. I think it’s informative to the legitimacy of Splashgirl’s music vision that they are able to offer alternate views of their music without needing to abandon their established sound.
I can’t help but already look forward to where there next recording takes them.
Your album personnel: Andreas Stensland Løwe (piano, keyboards), Jo Berger Myhre (double bass), Andreas Lønmo Knudsrød (drums, percussion), and guest: Eyvind Kang (viola) and Timothy Mason (modular synth).
Released on the Hubro Music label.
Jazz from the Oslo, Norway scene.
Available at: Amazon
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By davesumner • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2013 Releases • 0 • Tags: Hubro Music, Oslo, Splashgirl