Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Samuel Hällkvist: Epik Didaktik Pastoral
Samuel Hällkvist: Epik Didaktik Pastoral
ByHällkvist is a frequent collaborator with British-Bahraini trumpeter Yazz Ahmed, who is heard on two tracks here to winning effect. The pair first met in Sweden on a development project involving Jazz i Malmo and London's Tomorrow's Warriors. Hällkvist admired Ahmed's ability to make "the most complex music sound natural and beautiful." Ahmed admired "the very attractive oddness" about Hällkvist's approach to the guitar. Hällkvist played on Ahmed's La Saboteuse (Naim, 2017) and Polyhymnia (Naim, 2019), and Ahmed played on Hällkvist's Return To Centre (2013) and Variety Of Live (2015). On her Epik Didaktik Pastoral tracks, Ahmed is joined by fellow trumpeter Noel Langley. Italian trumpeter Luca Calabrese plays on two other tracks. (And no, you are not hallucinating: the sleeve art on Epik Didaktik Pastoral, La Saboteuse and Polyhymnia was all created by British artist Sophie Bass).
The ten tracks on Epik Didaktik Pastoral, which is effectively a suite, could be characterised as either cohesive or samey, depending on the listener. Either way the music is pretty relentless, just like Bärtsch's or Steve Reich's can be relentless. But that is the point, or least part of the point. There are occasional flashes of tonal varietythe trumpet on "Dekorum ll Medel" sounds briefly Arabian (though it is played by Calabrese not Ahmed), and the MIDI keys on a couple of tracks suggest Joe Zawinul in Weather Report circa Mysterious Traveller (Columbia, 1974). Not so pastoral, but certainly epik.
Track Listing
Vagen Som Landet; Utan Vilja; Dekorum l Hog; Badboll; Badboll Gles; Dekorum ll Medel; 100 Takter Med Piano; Blacklocka Angsklocka; Dekorum lll Lag; Omstart; Svedjebruk.
Personnel
Additional Instrumentation
Samuel Hällkvist: guitars, MIDI programming; Dick Lövgren: bass (1, 3, 5-8, 10); Anne Marte Eggen: bass (2, 4, 9); Knut Finsrud: drums; Yazz Ahmed: trumpet (1, 3); Noel Langley: additional trumpet (1, 3); Luca Calabrese: trumpet (2, 6); Katrine Amsler, sound design, programming (1, 7, 8, 10.)
Album information
Title: Epik Didaktik Pastoral | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: BoogiePost Recordings
< Previous
Ode to the Road
Comments
About Samuel Hällkvist
Instrument: Guitar
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar To