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Thomas Hass: Trio's & Beyond Lotus Energy
ByInside there's a selfie shot from low down of a bearded Thomas Hass looking God-like and grim, alongside text explaining his music: "Trio's & Beyond is a musical concept where I can experience the 'spontaneous combustion' in various musical settings and explore the trio format in various forms."
It gets worse. "On this album I have tried letting a special mood that always has lived inside me unfold through nine different compositions. You could call it ballads or melancholic but I see it more like an inner canvas behind the different musical paintings."
Lotus Energy may give the game away. The lotus has great religious significance in the Orient.
So, is Hass a Zen Buddhist trying to propel the listener into a new state of awareness, perhaps even satori itself?
It's more than possible. Though the actual music is really quite accessible; no problem at all for anyone with prior experience of John Coltrane, the Dane's principal influence. Like Coltrane, he plays both tenor and soprano sax.
He also credits himself, along with Coltrane and Wayne Shorter, as having composed "Gimbo." Other numbers include "Bibo No Aozora, The Beauty Of A Blue Sky," by Japanese composer and acid house pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto.
All the rest are meandering originals, except for the closer. This isbelieve it or notHarold Arlen's "Come Rain Or Come Shine." It comes as quite a shock to hear a recognizable tune. But that's obviously part of guru Hass's fiendish plan.
Pretentious, moi?
Or to put it another way, "He's from Copenhagen."
Track Listing
Angel Park; Gimbo; Short Free; Anti-Freeze; Lotus Energy; Bibo No Aozora, False Waltz; Clark’s Heavenly Blues; Come Rain Or Come Shine.
Personnel
Thomas Hass: tenor and soprano saxophones; Nikolaj Hess: piano; Lennart Ginman: bass; Frands Rifbjerg: drums.
Album information
Title: Trio's & Beyond Lotus Energy | Year Released: 2014 | Record Label: Storyville Records
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