Jazz Articles about Mats Eilertsen

Mats Eilertsen: SkyDive

by John Kelman
July 2, 2012

It's significant that, in the personnel listing to SkyDive, Mats Eilertsen lists himself last, despite having composed all its nine tracks, put the group together and produced the recording. It's a simple truth about a humble Norwegian bassist who has, in the past decade or so, been gaining considerable traction, as a co-founding member of the cooperative group The Source, responsible for a number of recordings including the eponymous 2006 recording on Germany's legendary ECM. He's also been a charter ...

Yelena Eckemoff: Forget-me-not

by Hrayr Attarian
March 31, 2012

Russian-born pianist Yelena Eckemoff comes from a diverse artistic background. Having studied both classical and jazz, she has performed in concert halls and with experimental jazz/rock ensembles. This versatility is on display on Forget-me-not, a disc comprised of ten original compositions with a unifying theme: a floating, dreamy atmosphere filled with cerebral and stimulating tone poems.Eckemoff weaves her different influences into her improvisations with seamless ease. The title track opens with inimitable percussionist Marilyn Mazur's sparse cymbals followed ...

Mats Eilertsen Trio: Elegy

by John Kelman
November 7, 2010

He's best-known internationally for his work on ECM recordings by artists including guitarist Jacob Young, pianist Wolfert Brederode, and, most recently, pianist Tord Gustavsen, with whom he's been touring in support of Restored, Returned (2010). But while these associations might suggest a bassist disposed to gentler forms and understated freedom, they're only two of Mats Eilertsen's many sides. A busy bassist in his native Norway, Eilertsen's broader reach can be heard on singer/songwriter Solveig Slettahjell's Tarpan Seasons (Universal, 2010), Hardanger ...

Mats Eilertsen: Short Stories

by Budd Kopman
September 11, 2007

Short Stories, with fourteen tracks totaling less than forty minutes, is a disc of all solos (except for the last track) that manages to be intense and calming at the same time. Most current jazz releases have an overriding theme, or at least an attitude--compositional or otherwise--that binds the tracks together. That the motives of bassist Mats Eilertsen are not obvious makes the release all that more intriguing. What is obvious is the overall sound, which is ...

Mats Eilertsen: Flux

by Budd Kopman
September 7, 2007

Bassist Mats Eilertsen is in high demand as a sideman, and a member of quite a few longstanding groups. As a leader and composer, Eilertsen put out the very interesting and atmospheric Turanga (AIM Records, 2005). The outstanding Flux brings together the same players, but in an entirely different style. What is immediately apparent in the music is the group camaraderie that brings a sense of effortlessness to its members' interplay. The result is a sense of ...

Mats Eilertsen: Turanga

by Budd Kopman
March 20, 2005

Turanga is a low-key but intense album that is evocative of states of mind rather than sound images. The publicity sheet that came with the record has “(movement, rhythm, flow)" next to the title, and the recording certainly has those components in spades. While on the whole it has a Middle Eastern/Southeast Asia feel, it is mostly covert, except on “Oasis, and perhaps “Gamelange. Otherwise, the sense of place is subconscious. The players are from Northern Europe, specifically Norway, Sweden, ...

Iain Ballamy: Organic & GM Food

by AAJ Staff
July 25, 2003

Iain Ballamy’s Food peppers the aural senses with 2001’s Organic & GM Food, paying tribute to its inspiration while pushing the music into subconscious areas. If this record is a meal, its contents are not to be easily digested by everyone. It drives forward with a potent musical sensibility and aesthetic sense. The less traditional your tastes are, the better. I hated avant-garde music-- until now.

Free (or avant-garde) jazz sometimes gets a bad rap for being too emotive. Iain ...