Mats Eilertsen

Jan 19 2020

Best of 2019 #66: Mats Eilertsen – “Reveries and Revelations”

 

Mats Eilertsen has been responsible for all kinds of fascinating music, so it’s no small thing to say that Reveries and Revelations is arguably his most compelling work to date.  It’s a series of de facto duo sessions performed in isolation.  The bassist recorded pieces in his own home studio, and then sent the music to a handful of collaborators to perform their own music along to it.  In turn, they sent that music back to him, and thus began the final stage of putting it all together into something of a sonic collage.  Eilertsen retains the minimalist aspect of the music, and never lets the recreation become something illogical or untraceable back to the solitary nature of this music.  And yet, he generates a large presence with these pieces, something that transcends the first blush impression of introspection and peaceful tones.  It is not unlike how sparse noises seem to roar out from the quiet black of night… almost as if silence is the best reflective surface for huge sounds to incubate.  There’s also an intimacy to this music, and seems to belie the claim that the musicians were miles apart when making their contributions to the final product.  All of it comes together for one of the most compelling works of 2019.

Your album personnel:  Mats Eilertsen (double bass, electric bass, acoustic bass guitar, guitar, harmonium, keyboard), and guests: Geir Sundstøl (guitar, national guitar, banjo), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion, electronics), Per Oddvar Johansen (snare drum) and Arve Henriksen (trumpet).

Released on Hubro Music.

Music from Oslo, Norway.

I wrote about the album for The Bandcamp Daily.

Listen | Read more | Available at:  Bandcamp – Amazon

By • Recap: Best of 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , , ,

Jan 16 2020

These are videos that I like: Mats Eilertsen “Tundra”

 

One of my favorite albums of 2019 was Reveries & Revelations by Mats Eilertsen.  It’s got plenty of tranquility for when I need something soothing late at night or first thing in the morning, but it’s got just the right amount of edge and liveliness to sit down with the album smack dab in the middle of the day.  And it’s on one my favorite labels, Hubro Music, which specializes in the this kind of music, along with the kind of music that is so strange and yet so melodic and eludes any attempt to classify it with our better known genre tags.

This video is from the album track “Tundra,” put together courtesy of Jenny Berger Myhre.

You can expect to be reading more about this album as we ramp up for the Best of 2019 reveal (which, by the way, starts tomorrow night with the introduction!)

Listen to more of the music on the artist’s Soundcloud page.

If you don’t want to wait for my Best of 2019 list and just want to purchase the album right this instant (and you should), it’s available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

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Jul 11 2019

Now up: June’s Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations

 

And here we go. Brace yourselves, music listeners, because my latest Best Jazz on Bandcamp recommendations just posted on The Bandcamp Daily.  The newest monthly installment covers albums for June 2019.  There’s ten primary recommendations in total, plus some bonus recommendations, to boot.  There’s been no let-up on the deluge of new music in 2019, so if you were thinking about maybe settling into a prior month’s purchases, forget about it… you’ve got more excellent new music to discover.  On that note, let’s begin.

Follow this LINK to read those recommendations and listen to music from each album.

And check out past recommendations by running through the archives.

Have fun going through the list!

Cheers.

By • Announcement - Music, Jazz Recommendations - 2019 • 0 • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Mar 6 2015

These are videos that I like: Mats Eilertsen Quartet – “Oslo Jazzed Out”

 

Skydive Trio - "Sun Moee"Well, I was looking for a video for Skydive Trio, who were one of this week’s This Is Jazz Today recommendations (LINK), but I ran into this video instead.  It’s from the Mats Eilertsen Quartet, which happens to consist of the members of Skydive Trio plus saxophonist Tore Brunborg.

Honestly, I don’t know jack about this performance other than the fact it’s very cool how they’re filmed performing on a rooftop overlooking the Oslo city landscape and waterside.  And so I’m featuring it today.

Your video personnel:  Mats Eilertsen (bass), Thomas Dahl (guitar), Olavi Louhivuori (drums) and Tore Brunborg (sax).

Have a great start to your weekend.

Cheers!

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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.

Available at:  Bandcamp | Amazon

By • Jazz Recommendations, Jazz Recommendations - 2013 Releases • 5 • Tags: , , , ,