Julia Hülsmann’s quartet resurfaces with a fresh Norwegian voice on horn in tow and presents an attractive batch of originals that finds the group thoughtfully exploring common ground with a knack for adventure. When saxophonist Uli Kempendorff first joined Julia’s trio on 2019’s Not Far From Here, a new sense of expressionist urgency was introduced to the band’s interplay – a sense that is amplified and expanded upon through the addition of Norwegian trumpeter Hildegunn Øiseth here, who joins the quartet on five cuts.
Praising the quartet’s seamless chemistry in a review of their last record The Next Door, The Arts Desk spoke of how “the feeling that this group has progressed and can now find all kinds of different ways to create a convincing flow and narrative, is palpable.” This holds just as true for Under The Surface, yet at the same time new atmospheres are broached and modes of melodic interaction established in interplay with Øiseth’s idiosyncratic tone.
Julia has previously played and recorded with the trumpeter as part of Sarah Chaksad’s Large Ensemble, though their collaborative spirit really caught fire when Hildegunn joined the pianist’s quartet at a concert in Berlin in the summer of 2023 – “that’s when we decided to make a record together,” says Julia. “At this point, we’ve toured extensively as a quartet and have developed a very sturdy footing, which is surely at least partially responsible for sparking the idea to add another new voice into the mix. Since we’ve already established our particular group sound over the past years, we didn’t have to start from scratch when inviting Hildegunn to join in. She was immediately a great fit. And I already knew what she sounds like, what she does musically, especially live, meaning that I had a rough idea of how and where she would make sense in our ensemble sound before we went into the studio.
The quartet and the horn delicately connect on “May Song”, a composition by drummer Heinrich Köbberling, with its deeply lyrical melody melting between the saxophone and trumpet’s tender expressions. Hildegunn returns on ”Bubbles” – another Köbberling original –, blowing soft rubato lines on trumpet and more fragile phrases on a goat horn. The composition’s formal structure is reminiscent of a tryptich: Loose chamber jazz interplay serves as exposition, then Julia and Hildegunn enter into deep dialogue with each other before taking a turn into more up-beat lyrical territory – a wholesome finale performed by the entire group.
As on past outings, every quartet member contributes music to the session, the leader herself being responsible for half the programme. And on the pieces where we only hear the core-foursome, the interplay becomes even more playful and free in return. Julia’s post-bop opener “They Stumble, They Walk”, is a prime example of the quartet’s swinging qualities and the pianist’s exceptional keyboard work, whereas her tuneful inner compass comes to the fore on the dreamy “The Earth Below” – a duo piece with the spotlight on her and Hildegunn. Between songs like “Anti Fragile”, “Trick” and the closing title track “Under The Surface”, a broad spectrum of Julia’s compositional approach is presented, backed by a group capable of reacting to her every spur.
“Writing quite contrasting types of pieces is important to me, even when it can be hard to escape from yourself sometimes,” Julia notes. “But it’s also a natural process, deriving from inner thoughts and emotions. ‘Anti Fragile’, for example, I wrote in a moment when I was quite angry. I wanted to translate that to music, demonstrate the fact that every character has different facets. Music isn’t simply ‘pretty’, but it can be rough, too. Or aggressive. Not-fragile” – she laughs.“ ‘The Earth below’ on the other hand expresses a need to feel grounded, ‘earthed’ as we say in German, with both feet on the ground. Sometimes I make a point about searching for a different angle or temperament in the music. But usually I’m drawn to it instinctually – only then do I start to theorise the music from a technical compositional point of view.“
Spellbinding lyricism and playful rhythmic and melodic interaction conspire throughout Under The Surface, and Marc Muellbauer’s contribution to the set-list, “Second Thoughts”, is no exception. There’s an angular quality to the song’s melody and a suave flow to its pulse, grounded by the breezy rhythm section of Muellbauer and Köbberling. “Nevergreen”, the bassist’s other original tune, finds the group plotting a subtle groove with the horns wrapped around each other in unison before saxophone and trumpet take off in soloist flights – Kempendorff keeps things boppish, while Hildegunn displays a more expressive approach. The saxophonist’s own “Milkweed Monarch” is perhaps the album’s most honestly swinging track – here the band is in a mood to trade bars, with Muellbauer, Kempendorff and Julia each getting a solo in.
Julia: “We’re open to whatever happens with the music, as it naturally develops and changes over time. We don’t fixate on one particular way to play it, but let it morph into something new each and every time.” And that must be how the group keeps things fresh on Under The Surface – a gem in Julia Hülsmann’s increasingly impressive ECM-oeuvre. The album was recorded at the Rainbow studio, Oslo in June 2024.
