Erik Palmberg: First Lines

With his glowing, congenial sound, a straight-ahead, uncluttered reading of Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is The Ocean" introduces the listener to Swedish trumpeter Erik Palmberg's unfussy, eleven song debut, First Lines.

First Lines is a traditional session rather than a raucously modern one, more tempered then let-loose-the-reins. Yet the mix of eight originals and two other American cornerstones finds Palmberg and his partners, pianist Anton Dromberg, drummer Gustav Nahlin, and bassist Peder Waern, articulate and sensitive to their chosen material. Palmberg and Dromberg shine bright on Bill Evans and Jim Hall's illuminating mid-'60s gem, "Turn Out The Stars." The duo also hit a high on the trumpeter's ballad,"Sortie." But as smooth and cool as the quartet seems to naturally be, they fail to bring anything new or notable to Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma."

Palmberg and company reach high and evince an undeniable energy on the spunky horn/bass duet "Blues News" and the full quartet highlight "The Suspect." But for First Lines' remaining originals, Palmberg, one of the Europe's rising instrumentalists, tries to bridge the old and new, and falls somewhere in the middle. A place no promising talent wishes to be found in for too long.