Reviews of the week

US and German reviewers hail the recording of C.P.E. Bach’s Württemberg Sonatas by Keith Jarrett

Das Cover der Württembergischen (Sonaten) zeig einen Highway in geradezu Cormac McCarthyscher Ödnis. Gerade und schwarz zieht sich der Asphalt links zum Horizont. Karg und wild bereitet sich die Landschaft rechts darauf vor, sich die Straße zurückzuholen. Ordnung und Chaos im Zweigespräch, Zivilisation und Zügellosigkeit, Gebändigtheit und Gelöstheit – man hätte sich kaum eine bessere Illustration denken können für das, was sich in den sechs gerade mal gut viertelstündigen Stücken ab- und mit dem Keith Jarrett spielt. […] ‚Aus der Seele‘, hat Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach geschrieben, ‚muss man spielen, und nicht wie ein abgerichteter Vogel‘. Von abgerichteten Vögeln ist in Keith Jarretts musikalischer Miniserie keine Spur. Die ist so klar wie ein Bergsee, durch den musikalische Gedanken schwimmen wie schillernde Fische. Und sie ist so schön, dass man sie allen von der Wirklichkeit gegenwärtig Wundeschlagegenen als Vademecum nur empfehlen kann.

Elmar Krekeler, Die Welt

Keith Jarrett stopped performing and recording five years ago, after two strokes that left him partially paralyzed on one side of his body. This put a halt on one of the most illustrious musical careers of my lifetime. But I have a hunch that Jarrett’s producer Manfred Eicher has accumulated lots of unreleased Jarrett music over the course of a partnership that has lasted more than half a century. This double album of Jarrett playing C.P.E.Bach’s ’Württemberg Sonatas’ is a case in point. Why would Jarrett and Eicher leave these glorious tracks on a shelf for three decades? This is one of my favorite classical albums of the year – and makes me wonder what else is hidden away in those ECM archives.

Ted Gioia, The Honest Broker

Es hat eine ganz delikate Anschlagskultur – und wenn es dann virtuoser wird,strahlt es eine große Mühelosigkeit aus. […] genial umgesetzt.

Cornelia de Reese, Deutschlandfunk Kultur

A German daily paper on the new recording of works by Henrik Ødegaard with Vox Clamantis

Auf dieser CD spürt man, wie Ödegaard den gregorianischen Choral als die heilige Urform seiner Werke behandelt, der seine zarten Variationen unmerklich  entwachsen. Schon das einleitende ‘Jesu, dulcis memoria’ zeigt uns das auf ebenso scheue wie sinnliche Weise. Zwischendurch mischt Ödegaard noch Schwebstoffe der norwegischen Folklore dazu. Das ist eine CD für die ganz leisen Momente des Lebens, die nur dem Hörer allein gehören.

Wolfram Goertz, Rheinische Post

The album A Time To Remember by Elina Duni attracts acclaim in Belgium and Germany

Quelle voix! Pure, subtile, intense. […] D’abord le son, comme d’habitude chez ECM, magnifiquement enregistré aux studios La Buissone et produit par Manfred Eicher. Ensuite la voix sublime, légère et profonde, grave et aérienne, d’Elena Duni. […] Ses complices la suivent, avec raffinement et pertinence. […] Tout est chargé d’émotion dans cet album. Et, une fois les dernières notes disparues, on n’a qu’une seule envie: repousser sur lebouton ‘start’.

Jean-Claude Vantroyen, Le Soir

Das Paar lässt sich helfen von Fred Thomas, der zwischen Texturklavier und Schlagzeug pendelt, außerdem von Matthieu Michel, demTrompeter der samten modernen Töne. Dabei liegt es schon im Konzept begründet, auf bekannte Muster nostalgisch eleganter Klanggestaltung zurückzugreifen, erfüllt von der strahlenden Stimme Elina Dunis und den farblich dezent schillernden Einrahmungen ihrer Begleiter.

Ralf Dombrowski, Audio (‘Jazz-Highlight’)

UK and US reactions to the new album Glimmer by Nils Økland and Sigbjørn Apeland

This beautifully evocative music for fiddle and harmonium comes from a longstanding musical relationship between Økland and Apeland that goes back more than thirty years. Much of the inspiration for the music is related to the region in Western Norway where the two musicians grew up.The music has been painstakingly collected by Sigbjørn Apeland, often from local singers, as well as transcriptions and archive recordings. The music is detailed and remarkably varied with Økland and Apeland conjuring many different sounds, performance dynamics and textures from the Hardanger fiddle and harmonium. […] The interplay and empathy between Økland and Apeland is staggering, and the music all the more moving for it. […] An unusual and beguiling album from two musicians that are not just aware of the tradition of their respective instruments and folk music of the region, but who actively seek to help keep the tradition alive, and as such it is highly recommended.

Nick Lea, Jazz Views

The first Hardanger fiddler I ever heard was Norway’s Nils Økland, who has long pursued his own marriage of traditional folk and original music, albeit with a stronger focus on jazz and western classical music. He recently dropped a new duo album with long-time musical partner, keyboardist Sigbjorn Apeland, ‘Glimmer’, a long overdue follow-up to the 2011 homage they made to the legendary Norwegian fiddler and composer Ole Bull. The repertoire mixes original material from each musicians, including a couple of collaborative pieces, with traditional vocal tunes collected by Apeland, who stick with harmonium on this gorgeous recording […] Across the album the keyboardist lays out a ruminative, graceful foundation for the fiddler’s lines, but their rapport and connection when elaborating the often melancholy themes is just as stunning and satisfying as the solo sections. Apeland’s ‘Valevåg’ is a fraught duet, where the sound of the harmonium being open and closed seems as important as the actual musical tones, and the pair never really disembark from the composed material, tracing out dark lines that move between unison and counterpoint. Apeland’s meandering lines convey a wonderfully queasy feeling, a sensation heightened by Økland’s gently snaking articulation. Rarely does such a subdued, concise piece of music hit as hard as this two-and-a-half minute marvel.  […] It’s a fantastic album.

Peter Margasak, Nowhere Street

A German daily on Our Daily Bread by Joe Lovano’s Trio Tapesty

Das ist kammermusikalischer Jazz in hoher Vollendung und voller poetischer Momente. […] Herausragend: Die Nummer ‘Grace Notes’ mit ihrer spirituellen Aufladung, die an die Sinnsuche eines John Coltrane erinnert. Und ‘The Power Of  Three’ dokumentiert genau das: Das Ganze ist mehr als die Summe seiner Teile.

Holger True, Hamburger Abendblatt

UK and German reactions to the album Eventually by the Jacob Young Trio

Here are the jazz craftsmen, at the top of their game, settling into a sustained groove –thoughtful, reflective and a little bit melancholy, rather like the feeling that overtakes you gazing out of the window on a rainy Sunday afternoon. […] It’s a beguiling experience.

Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise

Consistently captivating, the diversely up-and-grooving ‘Eventually’ features Young material throughout. […] But if there is plenty of Young’s poetic sensibility and mellow understatement to enjoy (sample The Meaning Of Joy) much of this music serves to remind us that, for all his Nordic leanings, this open-minded guitarist’s elective affinities include Kenny Burrell and Peter Bernstein, Bill Frisell and Pat Metheny. Young’s elegant and harmonically intriguing lines now float, now groove across and within a stimulating variety of in-the-pocket contributions from Eilertsen (b) and Kleive (d). The last named, known for his work with Terje Rypdal, contributes a tasty range of figures as judicious as they are propulsive […] Kleive’s more assertive inclinations help make the tough, ostinato-fed and tautly grooved ‘Schönstedstrasse’ the most immediately arresting track, but there’s not a moment here which doesn’t compel. […] A terrific session.

Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal

Unvergleichlich schwebende,sehr dezente Gitarren-und Schlagzeug-Sounds, die sich unpräntentiös begegnen, nur Bassist Mats Eilertsen knurrt im Hintergrund […] Aber auch eleganter Latin-Rock und Balladen in kollektiven Extempores konfigurieren dieses exquisite Repertoire aus Sounds.

Hans-Dieter Grünefeld, Grand Guitars