Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Karen Bach Trio: Secret Rooms

238

Karen Bach Trio: Secret Rooms

By

View read count
Karen Bach Trio: Secret Rooms
One of the joys of following a trio throughout many years of musical communication is the pleasure of hearing a distinctive sound emerge from intense work with form and content. Pianist Karen Bach's third album with her trio, Secret Rooms, is a work of distinction from three talented musicians who have worked hard to achieve their own sound, and the album represents the refinement of an aesthetic that has been developing over a long time.

Back in 2006, the trio released its debut, Samtale (TBC DigiVision), which introduced the Nordic sound that has been part of the trio's aesthetic ever since. Beautiful melodies and tight interplay were present from the beginning, but what was missing was a willingness to take chances and push the music over the edge. Flash Forward and Back (TBC DigiVision, 2007) became a new chapter in the trio's development. With that release, pianist Bach moved into more dangerous and unpredictable areas, exploring structures of lyrical beauty as well as inherent chaos.

Secret Rooms finds the trio at the apex of musical communication. Bach's compositions still have the trademark of Nordic melancholy, bringing in inspiration from classical composers like Nordahl Grieg as well as Bill Evans, but they also have a modern flavor, where the repetitive structures of post-rock open up the possibilities of improvisational surprises.

The opening "Untitled" finds Bach doing a dramatic romantic introduction on the piano, before the tune morphs into a post-rock groove, reminiscent of Tortoise, where Erik Olevik's electric bass patterns are complemented by abstract Fender Rhodes splashes.

"November" is a stellar ballad, as drummer Erik Laustsen makes his brushes whisper with elegant lightness, while Bach explores the emotional spectrum of the piano, going from ecstatic runs on the tangents to understated fragile chords. "Staircase Music," on the other hand, sees Laustsen moving into bossa nova territory, while Bach conjures a melancholy mood and Olevik stretches the tones of his bass.

Secret Rooms is a strong effort from a group which has found their own take on the Nordic sound. There's room for improvisational wildness, tantalizing melodies and quiet meditation. Here's a record that shouldn't be a secret.

Track Listing

Untitled; Ping Pong Music; Just Before It Gets Dark; November; Secret Rooms; 1973; Psalme; Staircase Music; Remind Me.

Personnel

Karen Bach: piano, Fender Rhodes; Erik Olevik: upright bass, electric bass; Erik Laustsen: drums.

Album information

Title: Secret Rooms | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Blue Kite Productions

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

Eternal Moments
Yoko Yates
From "The Hellhole"
Marshall Crenshaw
Tramonto
John Taylor

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.