Reviews of the week

Early German reactions to the freshly released album Éventail by Heinz Holliger with Anton Kernjak

Jetzt hat der 84-jährige Holliger bei ECM records noch einmal eine Platte aufgenommen, sie ist großartig. Wie  immer machter sich die Arbeit nicht leicht, er hat noch einmal tief in die Regale der Moderne gegriffen und Staunenswertes zutage befördert, etwa  die betörende Oboenfassung von Ravels ‘Pièce en forme de Habanera’, die reizende Sonate von Camille Saint-Saëns, so dann Erkundungen des Klangraums von André Jolivet, Olivier Messiaen (in einer umwerfenden Vocalise-Étude) und Darius Milhaud. Claude Debussys ursprünglich für Querflöte solo geschriebenes Meisterwerk ‘Syrinx’ taucht ebenfalls auf, schließlich die unbekannte, hinreißend ausdrucksvolle Sonate von Robert Casadesus.  Gemeinsam mit dem wunderbar diskreten Pianisten Anton Kernjak und der Harfenistin Alice Belogou gelingen Holliger famose Experimente zwischen Luft und Rohr, Mensch und Holz. Der Titel passt trefflich ,’Éventail’, zu deutsch: Fächer.

Wolfram Goertz, Rheinische Post

Dieser ‘Fächer’ präsentiert betörende Originalkompositionen und Bearbeitungen für Oboe und Klavier, allesamt meisterhaft umgesetzt. […] Die beiden profilierten Interpreten treffen genau die besondere Ästhetik, den Stil, die Atmosphäre, die Betriebstemperatur der unterschiedlichen Komponistenpersönlichkeiten. Das zieht einen unaufhörlich in seinen Bann.

Eckhard Weber, Concerti

UK and German reviewers on  Frozen Silence by Maciej Obara with Dominik Wania, Ole Morten Vågan and Gard Nilssen

A nourishing, wholesome record.

Hugh Morris, Jazzwise

Das Quartett des polnischen Altsaxofonisten Maciej Obara gebietet scheinbar mühelos überstufenlos regulierbares Dynamikspektrum, das von filigraner Zartheit bis zu lustvoller Leidenschaft reicht.  Gleichermaßenkraftvoll wie tiefenentspannt klingt ihr harmonischer Gruppensound, wobei diese Harmonie durch eine unterschwellige Spannung ihren besonderen Reiz erfährt: Hier die melodiöse Eleganz des Leaders und die romantischen Tendenzen von Pianist Dominik Wania, dort das scheinbar immer für die nächste Energiestufe bereite Rhythmusgespann aus Ole Morten Vågan am Kontrabass und Gard Nilssen am Schlagzeug. In subtilen Steigerungen und Abstufungen zwischen meditativer Konzentration und ausgelassener Verspieltheit findet dieser in seiner Differenziertheit unüberhörbar euröpäische Jazz die Intensität im Lyrischen und die Beseeltheit im Energetischen.

Reinhold Unger, Münchner Merkur

US and UK reactions to Sinikka Langeland’s brand new recording Wind And Sun

Magical. That’s the first word that came to mind as I listened to Sinikka Langeland’s ‘Wind And Sun.’ […] on ‘Wind And Sun’ she turns turns to the contemporary Norwegian playwright and poet Jon Fosse, whose poetry resonates with Langeland’s fascination with natural mysticism. Although Langeland leans into mysticism, it isn’t a wispy sort of mysticism. Her vocal instrument is a powerful one, capable of holding its own with Seim and Eick on their brassy horns. On ‘Wind and Sun Langeland’ has created arrangements that illuminate Fosse’s poems through her stunning, often minimalist vocals and kantele, and her sensitive ensemble fleshes out those arrangements in amazing accord with her and one another. I first noted the way the arrangements match the topic in the third track ‘It Walks And Walks,’ a superb arrangement founded on a walking bass line from Eilertsen, over which Langeland’s vocals and the horns play with a melody that sometimes plods with the bass and sometimes stretches the meter. Color and texture come from Strønen’s sensitive drumming, and Langeland’s lightly plucked kantele that somehow sounds like a chiming steel guitar. Pensive, reverent and life-observant, the song rides a line between art song, folksong, and jazz improvization. It all beautifully matches the text, which addresses the linear and yet somehow cyclical nature of life […] ‘Wind and Sun’ is a deep listening experience.

Gary Whitehouse, Green Man Reviews

After the solo album ‘Wolf Rune’ for voice and kantele, Sinikka Langeland has again returned to a quintet setting to present her now unique and uniquely beautiful music. With her recordings over the last decade or so, Langeland has drawn inspiration from culture of Finnskogen, an area on Norway’s border with Sweden known as the ‘Forest of the Finns’ and with her latest album searches for new avenues of expression in the contemporary poetry of Jon Fosse. Langeland’s marriage of her compositions and the words of Fosse is brought to life by a quite exceptional band. Saxophonist Trygve Seim is no stranger to exploring more traditional music and poetry, and his full sounding soprano saxophone plays an important part as a storyteller alongside Langeland’s voice. Seim is also partnered by trumpeter Mathia Eick who is a perfect foil for the saxophonist. With his lean and lyrical phrasing, and clean and clear tone the two voices of trumpet and tenor blend superbly supporting Sinikka’s vocal on ‘It Walks And Walks’. Eick is also particularly fine on ‘When The Heart Is A Moon’, a lovely ballad that opens with Sinikka’s kantele and vocals before being joined by Eilertsen’s strong and warm bass line. […] The charm in Sinikka’s music has been the way the traditional and the modern sit side by side. In somehow capturing the essence of both, the kantele player and vocalist’s music has a timelessness that is emotionally engaging and often leaves the listener with a feeling of inner calm. This is a trait that she has continued with her new compositions and the development of her arrangements for jazz quintet and done so without sacrificing the links she has forged with the traditional music of the region. The music on ‘Wind And Sun’ therefore sounds as fresh and intoxicating as ever, while looking ahead for new ways to bring the ancient and traditional together with the new.

Nick Lea, Jazz Views

For this new recording, Langeland chooses to once more broaden her horizons of sound, with an all-Norwegian all-star constellation of players, all of them ECM recording artists and ensemble leaders in their own right and with complex interwoven histories going back many years. […] And so to summarise, these expert players know one another well, sharing an advanced improvisational understanding, individually and collectively elevating the atmospheres of the songs presented on this album. […] Whilst the setting of poems by Hans Børli, Edith Södergran, Olav Håkonson Hauge and Finnish Forest rune songs have formed the core of Langeland’s repertoire to date, ‘Wind and Sun’ sees her turn her attention to the contemporary poetry of Jon Fosse, who has described the process of writing as ‘an act of listening,’ and wrestles with questions of faith in his work in a way that resonates with Langeland’s fascination with natural mysticism. […] This connection between all involved in the making of this album is clear to hear. There appears to be a very distinct understanding that enables the musicians to express themselves whilst remaining within the soft, unspoken boundaries of the nature of the poetry and music itself. ‘Wind and Sun’ in its entirety feels this way, with moments of glistening beauty mixing intrinsically with a foreboding melancholy. Langeland’s voice carries passion and truth, crossing oceans as it takes flight. Softly spoken, or strong and terse, it is always crystalline in delivery. The supporting cast give the listener a sense of time and place, adding to the atmospheric nature of the songs with sensitivity and imagination. The delicate hues of colour and subtle textural interplay between the musicians is a delight, helping create a beautiful landscape of sound. And this is the landscape of Sinikka Langeland’s music, one where the listener can visualise for themselves the places and people that inspire her music.

Mike Gates, UK Vibe

An Italian daily paper on Sphere by the Bobo Stenson Trio

Questo lavoro pubblicato dall’etichetta ECM ribadische l’affinità artistica maturate nel corso dei decenni di collaborazione tra Bobo Stenson e la casa discografica di Manfred Eicher.

Alessandro Rigolli, Gazzetta di Parma