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Yosef-Gutman Levitt & Tal Yahalom: Tsuf Harim
by Gareth Thompson
In early Hasidic writings, magical and supernatural concepts rooted in the mystic were common. Such notions held that human acts, including musical activity, could affect the godhead and thus the whole world. By the late eighteenth century, these Jewish religious teachings saw music as something inward, a form of contemplation with the soul. Yosef-Gutman ...
Rymden + KORK: Rymden + KORK
by Gareth Thompson
The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (aka KORK) performs each year at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert. By contrast, it has also twice provided backing to the Eurovision Song Contest in Norway. Intriguing then to find them linking up with Bugge Wesseltoft, leader of Rymden and a pianist-composer whose work is both learned and accessible. Both parties create ...
Brendan Eder Ensemble: Cape Cod Cottage
by Gareth Thompson
When the new owners of a Cape Cod saltbox house went to insulate their attic, they found photos, manuscripts and TEAC tapes left by the previous occupant. His name was Edward Blankman, a retired dentist from Pennsylvania, who moved to Cape Cod after his wife's death. These newly uncovered recordings were sent to Jazz Dad Records ...
Hedvig Mollestad & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra: Maternity Beat
by Gareth Thompson
Norwegian jazz-rock guitarist Hedvig Mollestad has never shied away from the big themes. Previous outings have seen her dabble with notions of Greek mythology and weather conditions, while channelling her love of guitar greats from Jimmy Page to John McLaughlin. Now with Maternity Beat, she offers a series of musings on the nature of family and ...
Szun Waves: Earth Patterns
by Gareth Thompson
The second Szun Waves album, New Hymn To Freedom (The Leaf Label, 2018), was a critical smash that united fans of Radiohead and Pharoah Sanders alike. Media types drowned in a torrent of adjectives such as gleaming, sparkling and rippling, as if the combo of brass and electronics could produce anything else. Unless, of course, it ...
Amanda Whiting: Lost In Abstraction
by Gareth Thompson
Ahh, the angelic harp, a symbol of celestial beings, Biblical healing, Irish identity and a rubbish lager. In jazz terms we think of the instrument in relation to Casper Reardon, Dorothy Ashby, Alice Coltrane and more recently Deborah Henson-Conant. A noble list of names if not exactly boundless. The harp is, after all, much less portable ...
Espen Eriksen Trio featuring Andy Sheppard: In The Mountains
by Gareth Thompson
Espen Eriksen uncorks a surprise at the end of this remarkable live album. For the closing cut, his trio takes on Krzysztof Komeda's theme tune for the 1968 urban horror flick Rosemary's Baby. To begin with, gothic piano hammerings and eerie bass scrapings replace Komeda's spooked female “la-la" vocals. Yet by the end, Eriksen's keyboard genius ...
Maridalen: Bortenfor
by Gareth Thompson
Maridalen's eponymous 2021 debut for Jazzland Recordings was quite the breakout success. Earning strong coverage across the British music press, it proved that sometimes the media gods are with you. A host of other fine Norwegian albums made less impact back then, but Maridalen look determined to seize the moment. And, with their follow-up record Bortenfor, ...
Bugge Wesseltoft: Be Am
by Gareth Thompson
In a 2008 interview, Bugge Wesseltoft spoke of his despair at seeing civilians suffer throughout history, unable to protect their families and children from wars. He also noted that watching such events unfold from the safety of his Norwegian homeland was painful. Wesseltoft had recently released his superb album IM (Jazzland Recordings, 2007) which found him ...
Jack Cooper & Jeff Tobias: Tributaries
by Gareth Thompson
The Greek philosopher Heraclitus claimed that “No one ever steps in the same river twice," as everything is in flux and constantly changing. By the same logic we might say that no jazz musician ever plays the same piece twice. Now consider the album Tributaries, a river-inspired work created by Jack Cooper (guitar) and Jeff Tobias ...
