Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Jo David Meyer Lysne & Mats Eilertsen: Meander

3

Jo David Meyer Lysne & Mats Eilertsen: Meander

By

View read count
Jo David Meyer Lysne &  Mats Eilertsen: Meander
Norwegian guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne and double bassist Mats Eilertsen make their debut as a duo here. Meyer Lysne is a young player with a very individual approach to the acoustic guitar; Eilertsen is a veteran with over a hundred recordings on his resume, experience that really helps to bring Meyer Lysne's concepts into focus. This is an acoustic project at its core, but both performers also employ electronic effects to expand the possibilities of their instruments. Recording and mixing by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studio (home of so many beautiful ECM recordings) gives the results the perfect presentation.

The opening track "Intro" gives notice that this will not be a standard acoustic date. A collective composition, it is very atmospheric, almost an electronic study. "Sluten" (the first of the Meyer Lysne compositions) begins with his unmodified acoustic guitar, a contrast that establishes the range of the album. The title tune is also guitar oriented, with a folkish, Americana tone.

"Åpning" employs 12-string guitar with cathedral reverb; Eilertsen plays high harmonics (as he does many times during the album), subverting the bass role into high lead voice instead of low accompaniment. "Svømmer Over" is a waltz, and a straightforward, lyrical acoustic duet. "Duolian" is another beautiful Meyer Lysne piece, which gives Eilertsen space for an extended bass solo. During "Meso" he switches between conventional accompaniment and high atmospherics. Closer "Uro" is an atmospheric electronic bookend to the opening track.

Meander could be described as a series of miniatures. Only one track exceeds the four minute mark, and the entire album is only 30 minutes long. But it is a rich, full listening experience. It has a gem-like focus that belies its title.

Track Listing

Intro; Sluten; Meander; Steinkast; Åpning; Pil; Svømmer Over; Duolian; Digg Dyne; Meso; Uro.

Personnel

Jo David Meyer Lysne
guitar, acoustic

Jo David Meyer Lysne: acoustic guitars, 12-string acoustic guitar, effects; Mats Eilertsen: bass, effects.

Album information

Title: Meander | Year Released: 2017 | Record Label: Ora Fonogram

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.