Record Reviews

JERVE / THORNTON / THOREN ~ CIRCUMSTANCES AMP 019 (Barcode: 662578831136) ~ NORWAY ~ Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2017 This is the debut album by the Jazz piano trio comprising of Norwegian pianist / composer Kjetil JerveFind albums by this artist, British bassist Tim ThorntonFind albums by this artist and Swedish (resident in Norway) drummer Anders ThorenFind albums by this artist. The album presents nine tracks, three of which are original composition by Jerve, two are by Thornton and one is a collective composition by the trio members. Of the remaining tracks, two are standards and one is a surprising inclusion of a composition by the great Allan HoldsworthFind albums by this artist (RIP). The album was recorded at the legendary Rainbow studio in Oslo and offers excellent sound quality. This album is somewhat surprising in view of Jerve´s debut album released a year earlier ("New York ImprovisationsFind albums with this title"), which was quite freely improvised. The music on this album shows another face of his musical personality, and is dominated by highly melodic, mostly slow tempo ballads, full of melancholy and reflection and some highly swinging pieces. It is great to see such versatility in Jerve´s approach to Jazz, which of course is by its nature a multifaceted idiom. Of course Jerve is, as I have stated already in other reviews, a superb pianist with excellent technique but more importantly also a great feel for the music, which enables him to change his dynamics and even the entire approach to his instrument on the fly. He is definitely one of the most interesting Nordic pianists lately and someone worth watching closely. The rhythm section on this album displays significantly more presence and input than in most contemporary piano trios these days. Thornton is a very powerful and wonderfully precise bassist and his deep pulsations are there up front almost at the same volume with the piano. His playing is inventive and fascinating and simply can not be ignored by the listener. Thoren does a grand job as usual, with his unique rhythmic artistry, which also becomes an integral part of the overall sound. To summarize, this is a brilliant piano trio album, which should make the many connoisseurs of this particular variety of Jazz extremely happy, but of course all Jazz fans should find this very satisfactory. Another excellent release on the small independent Norwegian label AMPFind albums on this label Records, which is proving that small independent labels can be (and very often are) better than the bigger sharks ;) Well done!

Updated: 01/12/2017Posted: 01/12/2017

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