Mats Eilertsen Trio’s ‘And Then Comes the Night’ […] displays the classic ECM sound, chilly yet enticing in that brooding Scandinavian manner. […] ‘There is almost no theme-solo-theme playing on this album,’ Eilertsen notes. ‘It’s more like a river or whirlpool of moods that carries you with it.’ That seems spot on, the tight little ensemble indeed rolls along loosely, calm like a river.
Paddy Kehoe, RTÉ Entertainment
On their first offering for ECM as a trio, ‘And Then Comes The Night’, stalwart label mates: bassist/leader/composer Mats Eilertsen, drummer Thomas Strønen, and ethereal pianist Harmen Fraanje deftly create a sustained work of near impossible beauty and sublime human interaction. With evanescent shifts of time, shaded harmony and tone, Eilertsen—his nuanced writing highlighted on the acutely hailed ‘Rubicon’ (ECM, 2016)—the bassist boldly strips down from septet to a trio, resulting in a music more expansive, more revelatory upon each successive listen.
Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz
‘And then Comes the Night’ is a low-lights, tranquil affair but an appreciably warm, upbeat quality oozes from Eilertsen’s dreamily melodic originals that distinguishes his work […] from many of his Norwegian peers. […] What’s more, this group’s mutual understanding and flexibility in terms of traditional roles makes for intimate meaningful dialogue rather than mere ‘ambient’ effect.
Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise
His third LP with pianist Harmon Fraanje and drummer Thomas Strønen (Food, Time is a Blind Guide), ‘And Then Comes the Night’ does an expert job at straddling that fine line between jazz and classical music that European jazz musicians often favor and that ECM showcases so well.
Michael Toland, Blurt
Die drei Musiker haben das Album in Lugano eingespielt und dabei versucht, den speziellen Charakter und die Atmosphäre des Studios Auditorio Stelio Molo einzufangen. Das gelingt zum Beispiel ganz hervorragend in dem ruhigen Stück ‚Perpetuum‘, das zunächst alle Instrumente im Nachhall des Raumes vorstellt, bevor sich die Komposition zum Ende hin mehr und mehr verdichtet. […] Es ist erstaunlich, welche Klangfarben der Norweger seinem Baß entlockt. Die einzelnen Stücke sind abwechslungsreich, mal eher frei assoziierend, mal ausgehend von einem eingängigen Leitmotiv (‚Albatross‘). Ein spannendes Album, das mit ein wenig Zugewandtheit des Hörers zu einer intensiven Entdeckungsreise durch Klang und Komposition wird.
Frank Lechtenberg, HiFi-Stars
The record, which is titled after a novel by Icelandic writer Jón Kalman Stefánsson, has a subtle and beautiful sound.
Kevin Johnson, No Treble
Eilertsen, Harmen Fraanje (p) et Thomas Strønen (dm) sont des artistes de recueillement et de célébration des espaces naturels qu’évoquent les titres After the Rain, Albatros, The Void… Then Comes The Night étant le moment où sinon le drame, du moins le mystère se noue.
François Marinot, Jazz Magazine
[T]here is a collective identity that permeates the entire session. […] This is a very special session, full of an extraordinary degree of empathetic playing.
Mark Sullivan, All About Jazz
On his new album ‘And Then Comes the Night’, Mats Eilertsen leads on bass, and the interplay between the trio is perfection, with equal weight given to the piano (Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje) and the drums (Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen). Strønen’s drumming shimmers and swirls around Eilertsen’s bass and Fraanje’s piano. The interplay heard in trios like this one is a special type of telepathy—it’s the opposite of a horn player leading a rhythm section, with the horn player out front and the others just backing him or her up. […] I would compare the tone colors and improvisations to Debussy, Takemitsu, or impressionist painting. This music offers a different mental gestalt and listening experience than most jazz, by inviting you in to muse and dream. Such abstraction makes albums like this special as well as part-and-parcel of the ECM sound and musical philosophy.
Tom Schnabel, KRCW
Alles baut in diesem Klaviertrio aufeinander auf. Vieles klingt so einfach, ohne je simpel zu wirken. Da kann es passieren, dass die drei Musiker aus einem Kleinstmotiv einen regelrechten Strom entwickeln. Fortwährend bauen sie Räume, in denen die Ohren spazieren gehen können, setzen vollständig auf die innere Strahlkraft ihrer Musik. Laut wird es nie. Man mag sich fragen, wo diese Musik herkommt. Ein impressionistisches Klanggemälde? Eine romantische Invention? Natürlich führt diese Musik einen gehörigen Jazzanteil mit. Immerhin geht es wesentlich um Interaktion, die hier ohne störende Kopfhörer in einem Raum realisiert werden konnte. […] Ein solch freies Musikmachen, ein solches Ineinanderfließen hat man lange nicht gehört.
Tilman Urbach, Fono Forum
Mit seinem langjährigen Trio um den genialen Drummer Thomas Strønen und den Pianisten Harmen Fraanje gelingt es dem 43-Jährigen, einen Fluss oder einen Strudel von Stimmungen zu erzeugen, der einen unweigerlich mitreißt. Eine handfeste Überraschung – ein großer Wurf.
Reinhard Köchl, Jazzthing
Eilertsen's bass is like a breeze barely making ripples in the water. Backed by rhythmic colorings just as restrained, it leaves Harmen Fraanje's piano to take the lead with the gentlest washes and ebbs. At their loosest, the three almost let the likes of ‘The Void’ or ‘Albatross’ dissolve into empty air. Other spots let hints poke through, such as the barely-there hopefulness of the leader's subtle arco on ‘After the Rain’ (not the John Coltrane piece). Eilertsen and company are willing to follow as nature takes its course, and the trip makes a work of unpredictable and often arresting beauty.
Geno Thackara, All About Jazz
In terms of the music, one senses this tension between the everyday and looming tragedy in the haunting lightness of the tunes, particularly in Fraanje’s delicately lyrical piano playing, and something deeper and more sinister in the rhythms that Stronen subtly weaves into the pieces and Eilertsen’s rumbling bass tunes. […] Fraanje, of course, appeared on the magical album ‘Rubicon’ a couple of years ago. On this set, his playing is even more beautiful and the understanding within the trio is impeccable. You expect Stronen and Eilertsen to have a deep understanding (stretching back to their time in the late 90’s in ‘Food’, with Arve Henriksen and Iain Bellamy), but on this set all three work from what seem to be quite slight sketches and draw this into totally compelling tunes. […] This is easily going to be one of the best CDs of this year and one that I will take great delight in returning to many, many times.
Chris Baber, Jazz Views
This is just a lovely album. […] The piano trio format seems to get more and more sophisticated, and this disc is another evolution. Classically inspired, it unfolds like a dream, light and airy, the musicians creating textures more than playing songs. Nobody solos. They barely state themes. They patiently listen to one another, adding to the conversation with spare plucks, gently brushed cymbals, and barely touched keys. The songs are slow, moody, and soothing, but mostly they convey optimism rather than despair.
Steve Greenlee, Jazz Times
