Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mattias Nilsson: Dreams of Belonging

4

Mattias Nilsson: Dreams of Belonging

Mattias Nilsson: Dreams of Belonging
In the 1970s and '80s, Windham Hill and Narada made scores of solo piano records that ranged from near sublime to the maudlin, all under the name of "New Age." I listened to hours of it and had my favorite artists. That said, I cannot say that I ever experienced the soul of that music. It was a satisfying, if empty-calorie ear confection that was pleasant enough, but did fall into my thoughts on criticizing contemporary pop art, which I always thought should be consumed but never considered. There has been a recent resurgence in pleasant solo piano music that expresses a greater gravity and storytelling capability. Recordings by pianist Steven Schoenberg, What's Going On? Solo Piano (Quabbin Records, 2017), Christmas Reimagined (Sonic Veil, 2014), and Live: An Improvisational Journey (Quabbin Records, 2009) are examples of quasi-improvisational recordings with a rare depth and message to be teased out from listening to them.

Enter Swedish pianist Mattias Nilsson who has qualitatively the same creative outlook. On Dreams of Belonging Nilsson spins fine gossamer from his 88 keys over nine songs, eight original and one time honored "standard." Nilsson's playing is sharply defined and pastorally plaintive. In his playing, particularly the title piece and "Spirea" I hear wisps of natural light sonically capturing dust motes floating. The pianist slides in a perfectly crepuscular "Gentle on My Mind" among his lightly tethered melodies. Nilsson does not clutter his playing with unneeded ornament, preferring to capture the melody in a gently raised harmonic architecture. "Folkmelody from Vastmanland" is somber and reflective, proceeding like a slow walk on a fall day in familiar environs when all is almost well. That is how music is supposed to strike you.

Track Listing

Dreams of Belonging; Sodermalm; Hymn to Love; Gentle On My Mind; At Froso Church; Spirea; Day By Day; Folk Melody from Vastmanland; Serenade.

Personnel

Mattias Nilsson: piano

Album information

Title: Dreams of Belonging | Year Released: 2018 | Record Label: MN Records

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT




Support All About Jazz

Get the Jazz Near You newsletter All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.

More

Tramonto
John Taylor
Ki
Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii
Duality Pt: 02
Dom Franks' Strayhorn
The Sound of Raspberry
Tatsuya Yoshida / Martín Escalante

Popular

Old Home/New Home
The Brian Martin Big Band
My Ideal
Sam Dillon
Ecliptic
Shifa شفاء - Rachel Musson, Pat Thomas, Mark Sanders
Lado B Brazilian Project 2
Catina DeLuna & Otmaro Ruíz

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.

Install All About Jazz

iOS Instructions:

To install this app, follow these steps:

All About Jazz would like to send you notifications

Notifications include timely alerts to content of interest, such as articles, reviews, new features, and more. These can be configured in Settings.