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Mikkel Ploug / Sissel Vera Petterson / Joachim Badenhorst: Equilibrium
ByThe approach of the trio is clean and, to an extent, precise. Precision is exalted in the hymnal singing of Pettersen on "Chorale I," her voice a transparent gossamer of silk. Badenhorst's symmetrical lines on the clarinet complement her perfectly.
Ploug plays an open pop melody on the acoustic guitar, which Badenhorst and Pettersen take into a folk mood on "Soft Spoken." Pettersen is on the soprano saxophone, her lines as sinuous as her voice. The texture is woven at a gentle pace, but it is in that deliberation that ideas ferment and three different strands wrap themselves into one logical, and cohesive whole.
Electronics and free wheeling instruments cavort on "Ambiente." The jangle of the guitar, the soft permutations of the clarinet, and the increasing urgency of the voice that comes off like a broken record only to show how strong Petterson is in giving her voice an extraordinary ability to interpolate sound, make this a challenging outing.
The trio blends all the right ingredients for a plush, absorbing outing.
Track Listing
Chorale I; November; Cathedral; Fri; Soft Spoken; Epiphora; Chorale II; Chords; Aeroide; Takt; Chorale III; Warmth; Ambiente; Chorale IV.
Personnel
Mikkel Ploug
guitarMikkel Ploug: electric and acoustic guitars; Sissel Vera Pettersen: voice, soprano saxophone, live electronics; Joachim Badenhorst: clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone.
Album information
Title: Equilibrium | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Songlines Recordings
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