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Trio ELF: 746
BySouping up the piano trio for a more modern sound has become a trend. Several groups are engaged in the endeavor, with varying degrees of success. Ham-fisted to a distracting degree at their worst, long term fans of the acoustic form are advised to check out sound samples before jumping into the widening pool.
The best of themcount Trio ELF in that numberuse sound effects judiciously to enhance and texture the trio sound as they delve deeply into synth-like drum 'n' bass grooves. Like Nik Bärtsch's Ronin, Walter Lang, drummer Gerwin Eisenhauer and bassist Sven Faller craft a group sound that maintains an organic element within the tight rhythmic backdrop.
Lang's acoustic Softly As in a Morning Sunrise (Hagel Meyer, 2005) displayed Lang's equality of parts trio work, his beautiful studied lyricism and deft use of touch. With the drum 'n' bass, hip-hop like rhythms on 746 he doesn't abandon that approach, but breaks in and out of the repeated keyboard figures and dance groove momentum to take improvisational flight on the wings of his always lovely approach to melody, with an adroitness born of the depth of his classicism and long experience with the more mainstream piano trio work.
The set's title tune features a machine-precision rhythm as its foundation. Eisenhauer's sets down an implacable, clacking train groove as Lang drops handfuls of delicate piano note flowers on the tracks. "The Machine Man" sounds full of joy, like a happy cyborg dance. "Evet" is the most overtly "modern" of the tunes, with Eisenhauer's drumming sounding like a high-tech mechanism of meshing gears and smooth-rolling bearings behind Lang's repeated rhythmic figures.
"Slam Stew" opens with Lang playing with a delicate music box precision in front of Faller's sludgy bass, and "Arearea" features tinny, echoing approach, with some electric scrapes, from both Lang and Eisenhauer.
Trio Elf's 746 succeeds mightily in modernizing the piano trio sound.
Track Listing
Intro; 746; The Man Machine; Evet; Slam Stew; Arearea; Maydance; Azzurro; Adria; Intermezzo Op 116 (Brahms).
Personnel
Walter Lang
pianoWalter Lang: piano, electronics; Gerwin Eisenhauer: drums, electronics; Sven Fuller: bass, electronics.
Album information
Title: 746 | Year Released: 2009 | Record Label: Enja Records
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Trio ELF
CD/LP/Track Review
Walter Lang
Dan McClenaghan
Enja Records
United States
Bill Evans
Nik Bartsch
746