Jazz Articles

Jon Opstad: Interpretations

by John Kelman
May 9, 2007

For his second album as a leader and the third for his own New Canvas Records, British drummer Jon Opstad leaves behind the more overt ECM sensibility of 2004's Still Picture. Well, almost. Interpretations is ostensibly rooted in the music of late-1960s Wayne Shorter and Herbie Hancock. The references are clear; still, the fluidity, sense of space and sonic transparency that pervades Opstad's septet suggests how classic albums like Hancock's The Prisoner (Blue Note, 1969) and Shorter's Schizophrenia (Blue Note, ...

Nishlyn Ramanna: A Thought

by John Kelman
October 22, 2005

You've got to admire people with drive. Still only 22 years old, British drummer Jon Opstad has emerged in the space of a few years as a drummer, bandleader, producer and owner of his own label, New Canvas Records. New Canvas' first release was his own debut, last year's Still Picture--reflecting Opstad's interest in Norwegian music in general, and the German ECM label in particular. From his quintet's unhurried approach to developing Opstad's impressionistic compositions to the austere artwork, the ...

Jon Opstad: Still Picture

by Eric J. Iannelli
November 18, 2004

Twenty-one-year-old British drummer Jon Opstad's full-length début is a remarkably accomplished effort, heavily indebted to the ECM sound--atmospheric, evocative, sparing--but nevertheless supremely listenable and full of promise.

Beginning with the introspective and melancholic “Fjord Song," the five tracks meld and blur into a unified sequence of sonic scenes and moods, fading and shifting like a photographic slideshow. Opstad's drumming here is delicate and often restrained, and his bandmates tend to follow suit. Soprano saxophonist Simon Cosgrove takes the song's only ...

Jon Opstad: Still Picture

by John Kelman
October 20, 2004

With its 35-year history of landmark recordings, it's no surprise that the German ECM label has spawned its share of imitators. But more importantly it has also encouraged more than one generation of artist, who see its cool, austere aesthetic as a starting point for new directions. From the Nordic cool of Jan Garbarek, the neo-classicism of Eberhard Weber and the melancholy lyricism of Kenny Wheeler, younger artists are forging new paths using ECM's delineated sound as inspiration.

British composer/drummer ...