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Arild Andersen: Live at Belleville
by John Kelman
The general international perception of Norway's jazz scene as “Nordic Cool," is, like most generalizations, inevitably distanced from truth. Atomic, The Core and Motif may possess no shortage of heat, but ECM has undeniably helped define that unmistakable Norwegian aesthetic. One of the “big four," brought to international attention in the early 1970s alongside guitarist Terje Rypdal, saxophonist Jan Garbarek, and drummer Jon Christensen, bassist Arild Andersen's ECM releases have largely avoided the kind of burning improvisational energy of his ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen / Frode Alnaes / Stian Carstensen: Hostslov (Autumn Slow)
by Eyal Hareuveni
Høstsløv (Autumn Slow) is the third seasonal offering by the Norwegian bass master Arild Andersen and two of his fellow countrymen, guitarist Frode Alnæs and accordionist Stian Carstensen, after covering traditional Norwegian summer songs on Sommerbrisen (Summer Breeze) (KKV, 1998) and old and new Christmas carols on Julegløggen (KKV, 2003). Høstsløv is another collection of familiar songs, played in a joyful and relaxed manner with loads of grace and charm.
Andersen and Alnæs have been collaborating for more ...
Continue ReadingFerenc Snétberger: Nomad
by AAJ Italy Staff
Il chitarrista ungherese Ferenc Snétberger, già autore di alcuni dischi per la Enja, tra cui il recente Balance, firma con questo lavoro la sua opera più matura, portando a compimento un cammino artistico che lo ha condotto attraverso la musica classica (Snétberger suona principalmente la chitarra classica con corde di nylon), la musica tzigana, e il jazz. Tutti questi elementi si fondono ora mirabilmente mella sua musica, grazie anche all'apporto prezioso di due collaboratori come il contrabbassista Arild Andersen e ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen Group: Electra
by John Kelman
With the exception of saxophonist Jan Garbarek, fellow Norwegian Arild Andersen--who has a considerably smaller discography as a leader--has created some of the ECM label's most stylistically diverse music since the early 1970s. From exploring the nexus of traditional folk music and improvisation on Sagn to the fusion-centric Molde Concert, the spontaneous composition of Karta and the Nordic Cool-meets-string quartet of Hyperborean, Andersen has explored a host of different angles from which to approach his personal jazz-centricity. And by combining ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen/Vassilis Tsabropoulos/John Marshall: The Triangle
by AAJ Staff
For a player with a background in classical music, pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos has done wonders in the realm of jazz, and specifically improvisation. He still plays with a precise, sensitive touch and measures out dissonance in carefully metered pinches, but the tidal ebb and flow that characterizes this trio recording stands as remarkable evidence that he's made the transition completely and elegantly.
Triangle is so named more for the shared space than any sort of angular edges to ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen / Vassilis Tsaboropoulos / John Marshall: The Triangle
by John Kelman
What a difference four years and touring time can make. The Triangle, the follow-up to 2000's sublime trio recording Achirana, shows a group that has grown in leaps and bounds, becoming something more, something larger. Clearly Vassillis Tsaboropoulos, an established classical pianist whose first recording of improvised music was Achirana, has evolved. While the thrust of the trio remains in chamber jazz, his playing is more extroverted. “Straight" and the 5/4 piece “Saturday" demonstrate a new-found brightness, and ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen: Rarum XIX: Selected Recordings
by Charlie B. Dahan
Arild Andersen’s career as a bassist of high regard without much public notoriety, particularly in North America, is explored on this latest ECM reissue. Like the rest of the Rarum series, the label turns the reins over to the artist in choosing from their various ECM sides and has the subject artist write the liner notes—Andersen’s reissue is no exception, and it helps make an excellent package. The collection features both Andersen’s work with his own ensemble, ...
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