Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Signe Bisgaard: Meander

15

Signe Bisgaard: Meander

By

View read count
Signe Bisgaard: Meander
A big ensemble often equals a big sound, but sometimes it is more interesting to think about the potential of sound rather than the idea of using all instruments at once.

The Danish composer and pianist, Signe Bisgaard, thinks about the potential of sound on her album Meander. She does not use all instruments at once, even though she has a vast arsenal of musical voices at her disposal. Instead, she lets the instruments drift in and out of a delicately woven tapestry of melodies where the silky sound of saxophones mix with the occasional understated rhythm from percussionist Helge Norbakken and celestial strings. The music grows out of silence and contemplation and new details constantly emerge, for instance the muted trumpet and spiky guitar on "Tonesætter."

Meander brings together musicians from many different worlds, but categories such as avant-garde, mainstream, classical and Nordic jazz make no sense here. Instead, Bisgaard creates her own sound world where the voice of each musician is allowed to be heard without drowning in a massive wall of sound. Meander has the delicacy of a tone poem, but the focus on texture does not mean that the melodies disappear. Instead, they form clear figures and shapes.

The strings are not used as background, but are even allowed to speak surrounded by silence on "Das Kleine Rote II" before Bisgaard's gentle piano enter and a rhythmical pattern slowly breaks through.

Meander is not a big band record, far from it, although the people in Bisgaard's band are many. It is not classical music, though violins play an important role. It is through-composed music, but with ample room for improvisation. It has the atmosphere of chamber music, but in a much wider scope. Like the name suggests, Meander is a musical river that flows in many different directions and to listen to it is to go on a journey in search of beauty.

Track Listing

Intro; Akrostikon; Tonesætter; MolaMola; Undertekst; Das Kleine Rote I; Das Kleine Rote II; Glue.

Personnel

Jakob Buchanan: trumpet; Jens Bang: trombone; Julie Kjær: saxophone, flute; Christian Vuust: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Pernille Bévort: tenor saxophone, bass clarinet; Panagiota Zagoura: violin; Dorte Rolff-Petersen: cello; Mark Solborg: guitar; Klaus Nørgaard: bass; Helge Norbakken: percussion; Signe Bisgaard: piano; Nikolai Bøgelund: conductor (#4).

Album information

Title: Meander | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Finland 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.