Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Bremer/McCoy: Natten

11

Bremer/McCoy: Natten

By

View read count
Bremer/McCoy: Natten
There is no need to read their bios to hear that these are two friends who have been working and playing together for a good while (nearly a decade at the time of this recording). For a start, the mere fact of playing as a duo inevitably puts any pair's chemistry right out in the open; while there are plenty of players good enough to communicate and improvise as smoothly as Morten McCoy and Jonathan Bremer do, their easy-going rapport is one that can only come from both fine skill and long history. This session rests on that natural chemistry to beautiful effect. It is the late-night banter of friends familiar enough to just open up and ramble however they want.

That particular mood is front and center on Natten ("The Night"). The sound of Bremer/McCoy is more settled than ever on their third release, and yet more exploratory than before at the same time. Their dialogue here is one for the wee hours that is still engaging rather than sleepy. The pair first began by playing dub, as it happens, and so it is no surprise that they share a similar grounding in groove. McCoy drifts between piano and electric organ, equally light-fingered and contemplative on each. Likewise, Bremer's bass lines stay both supple and precise, however airy the melodies tend to get.

The pieces are sketched out with some deliberation (most meant to evoke particular emotions or experiences), then performed with very little preparation. The two simply feel out the shape of each one, wandering freely and always trusting each other to wander back together without getting lost. McCoy states that Natten was intended to be created this way in the moment, just by staying open to the moment in "pure gratitude for simply being." The result is calming and comforting enough for anyone who is happy to float along.

Track Listing

Natten; Mit Kjerte; Gratitude; Hjertebarn; Nu og Altid; April; Aurora; Nova; Måneskin; Natten (part 2); Lalibela.

Personnel

Bremer/McCoy
band / ensemble / orchestra
Jonathan Bremer
bass, acoustic

Album information

Title: Natten | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Luaka Bop

Tags

Comments


PREVIOUS / NEXT



Bremer/McCoy Concerts


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.