Cantando - Bobo Stenson Trio

Track list:

1. Olivia
2. Song of Ruth
3. Wooden Church
4. M
5. Chiquilín de Bachín
6. Pages
7. Don's Kora Song
8. A Fixed Goal
9. Love, I've Found You
10. Liebesode
11. Song of Ruth (variation)

Running time: 77 minutes
Released: 2008

Yet more jazz from northern climes. A bit of a glut, it seems. This is a long one, and not conveniently split into two parts. Bobo Stenson is a Swedish pianist, so I guess I was looking for another gem like Esbjörn Svensson (not that there is any reason why two Swedish jazz pianists leading trios need be alike in any way). I have no strong recollections of these tunes though, so I guess there was nothing that stand out. That said, I doubt I have sat down and really given it time or space before.

The first thing I notice, as I hit play is that these tunes appear to be composed by others. Whilst Stenson leads this trio, he is credited with co-writing just one of the tunes. This is a surprise to me, but there is certainly enough jazz out there to support a recording full of reinterpretations - though admittedly I wouldn't be surprised if my track metadata is innacurate. Olivia is all wandering keys, disconnected bass and playful drums... a lounge-like insouciance (yes the word means what I think it does); I wish I had some of that. This post has been two weeks coming as a result of weddings (not mine), not enough sleep and getting my priorities screwed up. I blame the length of this disc, about as long as CDs ever get. I am forcing myself to do it on a Sunday evening to try to rekindle the drive behind this project. Whilst I have been making excuses, Olivia has kept playing, flitting in and out of my conscious thoughts. It doesn't have a dominant or coherent tune really - more a collection of small snatches of sound. They are nice and all, but it doesn't sustain complete attention or interest for the seven allotted minutes.

There is a stronger theme to Song of Ruth, the piano weaving a sombre and solemn tune around a skittering percussion and sparsely structural bass. I rather like the timbre, but it feels a little overwrought, bearing down on my choice to listen this evening. There are little moments of light though, when the piano reaches the higher registers there is a nice, hopeful musicality to the notes. Whereas the last couple of Nordic jazz listens have been short, snappy tunes for the most part, many of these tunes are longer, echoing the epics of the past. I am not feeling in the mood for lengthy oeuvres, but that is what I face.

Suffice to say that the similarities with Svensson end at being Swedish. Googling whilst Wooden Church struggles to engage me I find that Stenson is 20 years older than Svensson would be were he still with us. This does not surprise me; these tunes have a more traditional, less energetic, feel to them and are failing to excite. Don't get me wrong, the playing is nice and the sounds are pleasant enough, but the lack of urgency and laid back nature of these pieces is failing to grab me in any way. That is probably in part because I am having to force this listen but there is definitely an element of this being a bit too stately for my tastes. The opening of M is the best the disc has been so far, the piano skimming over a lot of high notes, the contrast with a low thrum from the bass and the skittering percussion is sweet and welcome. The tune is pleasant and dominant - the latter hasn't always been true thus far - and a bit more intricate. Something to get stuck in to.

The stronger sounds from the keyboard are a welcome shift in tone, and I find myself really enjoying M as it continues. It shows the wonder a good melody can offer. There is not too much change in bass and drums really from the tracks that preceded M, but the difference in the piano part is huge. More life, more action, more heart. The thing is - you often need percussion and structure for tunes to shine, and not everyone can be the hero all the time. Sometimes it is better for those disciplines to stay in the shadows a little. I can understand the desire to do something a little different, play with preconceptions and have these guys get their times to shine but... pianos are just so much better at carrying!

I am drawn back from a wandering mind by another moment where the "let the others have their day" mindset sticks out. Bass solos just aren't (generally) that interesting, you know. That goes double for drum solos. M appears to be the exception, not the rule; whilst there is more of a tune running through the subsequent number, it doesn't have the same strength of character and the devolution into spotlights for the supporting cast typifies it, making for a forgettable piece. We are then launched into a 13 minute epic, and it is fair to say my hopes are not high. Pages starts at a glacial pace and seems to be shooting for an atmospheric quality that nothing which has gone before suggests will be a success. It manages to be a little haunting, but at the same time it is also largely bland - too much space left around each note, and those notes not conveying enough.

The track goes silent for a second about 3 and a half minutes in. Sound returns with an edgy scratching from the percussion. This is not comfortable listening, but that edginess wouldn't be a problem if the resulting sounds were gripping - instead... well, it sounds a little bit like that one jazz stereotype, the one that, to me as someone who listens to a fair bit of jazz as part of a balanced musical diet, is utterly infuriating. The one that spawned the Jazz Club sketches on The Fast Show (Nice!).

That everyone is separately making it up as they go.

Ugh. I hate that as a throwaway insult but, as much as that is the case, it feels like it applies here. Worse, the 13 minute track is actually made up of several shorter sections that have very different themes. I don't get any sense of cohesion from the piece, no flow, no reason why these disparate sounds have been adjoined in this manner. For my money none of the little snippets are that interesting in and of themselves and they become less so when strung together like this. Pages is a sure fire casualty.

Huh, now that is interesting. The bass-led opening of Don Kora's Song has me thinking of Rodrigo y Gabriela of all things. Something in the cadence of the track has a Latin vibe and the hum of the bass is evocative of their guitar work. It is a huge step up in interest. There is a nice tune there - both melody and bass structure are coming from the keys, though the actual upright bass is contributing, the dominant theme is from the lower register piano, which means Stenson is playing two tunes, albeit one simple and repeating, with one hand each. This gives a nice effect, but arguably the track is more effective when the bassy part is being plucked. Or rather, it would be if the weighting towards the keys was maintained whilst that were happening - in practice the key treble is backed off in the recording. Still, a big step forward and the first sub 6-minute track.

The second "half" of the album is much shorter than the first and we blow through the next two tracks in half the run time of Pages. The first of those is an Ornette Coleman tune (I recognise the name but cannot claim familiarity with his work). I find it a bit tuneless for my taste, and it is best just before it closes. Too little, too late. The second is just over 3 minutes and a much more delicate tune. It suffers a little from too much weight on the wandering bass - the melody would have more impact if it was cleaner and clearer, but making the piano any stronger in and of itself would destroy the delicateness the tune conjures. I like it, to a point but it would be better with a solo piano.

Two to go. Liebesode (not to be confused with Liebestod by And None of Them Knew They Were Robots - there is an unlikely tag for you!) is again longer. It is mournful, with funereal pace. Lonely and sad strings carry the early part of the tune, with the piano hovering in the bass register. I am not sold on the strings here, there isn't much in their part here other than a huge serving of sadness and  it is a little overbearing. When the piano contributes more than the odd note it helps lift the piece and, as we pass 5 minutes, it seems to take over the lead. Alas the pace and timbre are unchanged and it is that stately, sad nature of the track that fails to work for me. The melody has become something of a joy but alas it is fighting against an indifference the rest of the playing did a lot to create.

The final number is a reprise of Song of Ruth and seems to have the keys alone, at least to begin with. Whilst it is a little subdued in tone I find I like it - the clarity of sound on the melody is appreciated, though it becomes dilutes some when the drums join in after a while. This is not a happy song, not played like this at least (I am not familiar with the original composition), but this particular variation does not have the same over-the-top tendency that I found on the earlier version. It gets a bit too busy at the half way mark, the flow of the tune broken up a little by the increase in tempo and complexity but once I adjust to the new level of activity it still has an even keel and better stressing. I think track two is for the chop and I'll just keep this one - it's much more engaging.

Time to go through and cut out some dead wood, then. And just in case anyone expects it now, next time out on these pages won't be more Scandinavian jazz.

Alba - Markus Stockhausen and Florian Weber

Track list:

1. What Can I Do for You?
2. Mondtraum
3. Surfboard
4. Ishta
5. Emergenzen
6. Barycenter
7. Emilio
8. Possibility I
9. Befreiung
10. Resonances
11. Die Weise Zauberin
12. Synergy Melody
13. Better World
14. Zephir
15. Today

Running time: 61 minutes
Released: 2016

Another new purchase now. Popped up when browsing online shops, had an interesting title which made me look, and an interesting description that made me buy. First listen time.

When I wrote the intro for the last post, I figured that I would be finding more time to listen. Instead I have been short of it. This disc arrived more than a week back now and I have accumulated drafts from new purchases; time to start knocking them off.

This opens quietly, tensely, trembling. It is a soft and warm sound, but neither of the leads. They arrive later - a high pitched, colder, piano, and a Davis-like horn. I think this is a really strong start, a mournful loneliness in there belies the atmosphere in my living room with a muted TV showing pictures of an FA cup semifinal in the periphery of my vision, and the day being as bright now as it has been at any point. The music though is my immediate concern, and one that intrigues and pleases without dragging my mind into the lonely states that I hear. The second piece starts with a starkly clear, crisp piano tune. The trumpet layers in on top. These pieces have a certain soundtrack-like element to them in places, long distance shots, people moving in the distance, but disengaged from our viewpoint.

The name of this album appealed and drew me in as I was browsing, as Alba is an old name, a Gaelic name, for Scotland, as used in the Albion RPG which I am still occasionally running. I wonder if the two Germans behind this music knew that - about the name, I mean; clearly they know nothing and care nothing for my game! I don't think the themes here evoke imagery of the crags and lochs though. It seems an unlikely inspiration, though would fit with the sense of isolation the early tunes convey and perhaps with the snow-blown image on the cover. The third track blows the atmosphere though. A more staccato, more involved, piano tune here is energised, busy it a way that the first two were not. It reminds me of another modern jazz record that I have, but I don't remember if it is GoGo Penguin or Roller Trio. This tone is misplaced here, not fitting given the slower and more considered sounds before and, now, afterwards. Surfboard feels like it has been dropped in from another album, without comment or particular thought - an impression that was there at the beginning of the piece, but cemented by Ishta's return to the initial feel.

I really like the slow, lonely sounds here. I wonder though whether they would still appeal if this wasn't new to me. I think so. Whilst I don't see myself coming back to this over and over as I do with my favourite piano jazz (two albums from Esbjörn Svensson Trio in particular - Seven Days of Falling and Tuesday Wonderland), in the right moods I could see myself looking out time to listen to this again. There is a sedate pacing to the themes here, even when the melody is busy and full of notes. We seem to rely more heavily on the piano than on the horn here, which makes sense... the keys provide more structure, the brass injects presence. When it appears the tunes change noticeably, it dominates.

Barycenter is an interlude - a frenetic piano tune for a minute. It again breaks the tone set by what came before, and what follows. A second occurrence of this is suggestive that the break is intentional, but I am struggling to see what it adds to inject these incongruous numbers. Emilio returns us to a slower and more thoughtful piece and is immediately more pleasant for that. I was expecting Possibility I to be another fish out of water based on the name but whilst it is short it doesn't break the feel of the overall piece so much, and nor does Befreiung despite having a faster pace, a warmer feel and sunnier outlook. This still oozes the relaxed air, though the key part has more urgency and the trumpet plays more positively.

The brighter tone is temporary though as the Resonances are sparse. This time it is the trumpet left to its own devices, plotting its lonely course through a sea of silence. Two minutes fly by, and for the first time I am feeling the obligatory 40s LA vibe that all jazz of a certain type seems to evoke, those dark overhead pans from black and white movies, sleazy joints and private dicks. The feel continues into the following tune, dissipates part way through as the music returns to the themes and feel that have dominated the majority of this disc, then surprises me by re-emerging again. I rather like that as I was caught unawares by the subtle tonic shifts. This is definitely a slow ablum; in that, it feels like a little bit of an antidote to the modern world. For the most part though it does not sound dated or out of place.

I prefer the slower pieces, the really sedate ones. There is a depth to the sound that belies the sparse arrangement as the interplay between our primary actors fills the stage masterfully. Some of the themes are empty enough that it allows my mind to wander along with my eye, and I suspect I am missing some finer points, but the best thing I am finding in these pieces is a sense of peace. The playing still calls to mind Miles Davis more than I was expecting going in. I would naturally have expected a bent towards a more European or Nordic sound. Meanwhile the piano reminds me of latter-day Herbie Hancock, as this is not really piano-led jazz in the same way as Svensson's was. Here the magic is all in the combination, the whole, and the spaces they leave for each other, which brings me back to the Davis reference. It may not be the horn playing itself, it could be the construction of the pieces as a whole harking back to specific moments, likely from Kind of Blue. For shame I can't give a clear reference to back that up, alas.

And just like that I am approaching the end of this one. The hour has zipped by faster than I was expecting and despite the often sedate pacing it hasn't dragged once. There were low points - particularly that first injection of pace and energy which really wasn't needed - but overall I was very impressed and taken with both the individual pieces and the general theme that the album shot for. The final short number finishes very abruptly (if something so stately in pace can be abrupt), which is a little jarring. Still nothing like as jarring as the couple of tracks that broke ranks on pace and tone, though. I am not going to ditch them offhand - first listen and all - but may do in future.

Break Stuff - Vijay Iyer Trio

Track list:

1. Starlings
2. Chorale
3. Diptych
4. Hood
5. Work
6. Taking Flight
7. Blood Count
8. Break Stuff
9. Mystery Woman
10. Geese
11. Countdown
12. Wrens

Running time: 70 minutes
Released: 2015

So much for momentum. A busy and varied week back at work, a bunch of evening engagements and a full day of boardgaming on Saturday mean that another week has passed with no post. This purchase was directly related to a positive opinion of Accelerando back in 2014. Like many new buys, I am not sure if I ever gave it a listen before now... possibly thinking "it's a B, it'll surface soon" at the time. Over a year later (there are a lot of Bs it turns out), its time to finally give it a go.

It has been a mild winter until the last couple of weeks, and I find myself shivering along to the trembling high notes that open Starlings. It's a strange piece that never really seems to get going, and yet disappears in no time... so I have to check and I find that somehow I started it playing in the lead out. What the hell? Starting again (how I didn't want to have to do that on a disc that runs over an hour already), there is a much more rounded track here. Heavy percussion (all relative) and a sparse, much lighter piano, though the tones are not as flighty as the volume setting, a little disturbing in places... unsettling. It wouldn't feel out of place soundtracking some dark night scene. The piano fades into the shivering notes that I first heard as the piece closes and this time I let it run on into Chorale, which has a much more stately air.

Slow, piano alone to begin with before the bass and drums are added as soft undertones. The character of the track changes a minute or more in, the volume rising the support growing in strength and the playing more statement like. An almost funereal tone jettisoned for a more recognisably jazzy approach. It is still a little tempestuous though, not easy listening and not a relax back into things tune, notes roiling around with beats and crashes. I am not sure why but I am picturing someone struggling to stay afloat on a troubled sea, cast overboard. Like with Starlings, the ending has a different character - it almost immediately quietens, stills, then stops. Neither of these pieces have really conformed to my hopes for piano-led jazz, which I really want to have soothe and relax me, even when it has a stronger or more energetic presentation.

It might be the cold (it's not that cold really!) but I find myself struggling to type today. Fingers going over all the wrong keys, mind ahead of hands, gobbledygook arising from my digits and a lot of backspace delete. Diptych is also somewhat edgy. There is no pattern here to sink into and it feels broken, pieces put together every which way. It works, in a sense, but it feels like graft to get through it. Hood is staccato to a fault, disjointed, disembodied sounds somehow wound together in a way that  nevertheless manages to offer something more. It has an intensity about it, mostly created by hammering the same notes a lot. The effect is like a mash-up, snippets of other tunes looped several times each and cut in and amongst each other. There are points where those loops are left to go too long and too many cycles, but generally they make a good fist of moving the pattern along before each segment gets unbearably repetitive.

This is, I feel an album that - if played to a non-jazz enthusiast - would confirm several stereotypes about the genre. Its a little all over the place, unstructured and giving the impression that there was no goal, or that the group didn't know what they were trying to achieve when they set out on any given track. I suppose that if you take the album title as ethos it makes a bit more sense; break the rules, break with tradition, break the mould... yet all whilst conforming to the outside viewpoint. There are elements of... reggae or dub rhythms in places, which gave my ear a prod, there is a lot going on. There is a swirl of sounds, short and quick transitions, no one theme getting a long play treatment. Its all a little much; I must still be tuckered out from yesterday's mental exertions. There are elements here I like, and I think this album enriches others by its presence. For each prematurely killed theme, I value Esbjörn Svensson's best works more. Break Stuff provides a contrast, and that is valuable in itself, not that there aren't other merits here.

Blood Count is a softer, piano-centric tune, an oasis of calm amidst the calamitous crashings and ever-shifting sands of the other pieces. It feels a little out of place, lonely and lost. I very much like it for itself and for providing contrast within the context of the work, so I don't have to look outside the disc for reference. The title track picks up this baton, too. Whilst it returns to a busier sound, it provides a tune with a sense of continuity that I found missing in the earlier tracks, then breaks itself as if to make a point. Its effective, though when it gets stuck in a rut of repeating short phrases soon thereafter the magic of the effect is quick to wear off. I find myself rather confused, not sure whether I really like this or cannot stand it for itself. I then find myself wondering whether that has something with the ossification of taste with age. I have definitely been buying less new music in the past year or two, and keeping up with new releases has gone out the window entirely. In my mind's eye I still crave novelty, but how true is that really?

Some of the brasher sounds here are novel, and some of the combinations - the playing really is exceptional in its meshing of the three instruments - are delightful. I still seem to be wavering on whether much of it is enjoyable though. Constantly wondering about how this doesn't seem to stack up to favourites rather than appreciating what it is. There is always a line somewhere; is Break Stuff crossing one? 

The opening sounds of Geese could, if you squint, be taken as the honking those animals make. This beginning is trying - sparse to the point that I am confused as to whether some of the softer sounds I hear are on the record or background noise coming in from outside. Certainly that emergency siren is the road, but other more subtle squeaks and susurrations? By the half-way mark the tune has picked up and is offering more. I was about to say some consistent theme again, but it abruptly broke and changed on me, turning into a plodding yet irregular, disconnected stroll. That pattern is interesting, though I don't like how they implemented the switch, and it develops into a more easily followed strand again.

One thing I will say for certain... this is not Sunday lunchtime music. This time of the week should be about many things, but not hard work, and simply keeping up with Iyer's piano at times is exhausting. He can certainly rattle those keys apace when he wants to, and the breakneck speed at which ideas are picked up, explored and discarded over the course of this album means you are racing to keep up. That's why I liked Blood Count so much - it was an opportunity to switch off a bit whilst still paying attention. Many of the other tracks are dense with either sheer note count or a multitude of different sub-clauses which are picked up and then dumped in short order. As we head into the final piece and the final few minutes, the one sentence summation is "all over the shop." Yet for all that I am disinclined to start cutting pieces out, as if doing so would somehow diminish what was left. Part of that may be the problems that I would have in identifying which tunes to drop, but much is that sense of worth, of difference, and the perspective they offer on music beyond the limits of this disc. Whilst I am waffling on, Wrens is actually proving a much more accessible closer, a more tuneful use of the piano, and the bass and drums supporting in a more traditional manner. I wonder if there is any significance to the fact that first and last tracks are both named for birds, which is probably a suitably random question on which to close.

Being There - Tord Gustavsen Trio

Track list:

1. At Home
2. Vicar Street
3. Draw Near
4. Blessed Feet
5. Sani
6. Interlude
7. Karmosin
8. Still There
9. Where We Went
10. Cocoon
11. Around You
12. Vesper
13. Wide Open

Running time: 59 minutes
Released: 2007

So I have already confessed an interest in Scandinavian jazz through Esbjörn Svensson Trio - though I did not love 301 much. E.S.T were a gateway which I went through to discover more. Well, I say "discover"; I mean "randomly bought off Amazon and hoped to like".

As you might expect, this approach - and to be fair it is one I have used a lot in different genres over the years - can be a bit hit or miss. I honestly cannot remember which of those categories Gustavsen fell into so I am looking forward to diving into this one and establishing whether this was a master-stroke, a misstep or something in between.

It starts quietly, a solo piano softly opening, a slow lament of a tune, then joined by brushed drums, hints of structure. Bass eventually arrives and the track takes on the form of a jazz piece, albeit a very laid back one. I could lose myself quite happily in the wandering tune though, conjuring pictures of the 40s, black and white of course, whisky in hand. This is a good beginning - despite the potential in this disc, I had to push myself to start the listen; I am running out of days before I go away, and have had a number of things to take up my evenings. A strongly enjoyable opening track then is a shot in the arm to my resolve. It is not a busy piece but it is a very, very nice one. If the whole disc is of the same ilk as At Home then I should think I will listen to this a fair bit more.

Soft sounds seem to be order of the day, nothing overly stated or raising the volume, but Vicar Street has more intent, purpose and pace. Compelling - the percussion and structure more noticeable here, driving the piece along to begin with. Unfortunately the piece loses some of that drive over its length (and it is not a long track) but it is continued encouragement. Most of these pieces are a fairly standard 3.5-6 minutes in length, but there are a couple of surprisingly short numbers listed which promises some interest - a potential shake up.

Piano, bass and drums. It's a good combination and a versatile one. EST, Tord Gustavsen, Ben Folds (Five) and probably more acts in my library that I cannot think of from the top of my head after a long day, a glass of wine and a bleeding impossible episode of Only Connect. What? Don't look at me like that. Just because it crosses out from jazz and ditches the double-bass for an electric bass does not mean that Folds' preferred form is not relevant here. Bottom line, I like piano, and this combination provides all the structure you could want to show it off - whether in laid back Scandinavian jazz or haphazard rocky style. The bass takes the pressure off the pianist, allowing him to concentrate on melody over structure, which makes for both an interesting top end and a solid base over which to show it off.

I am a little disappointed that the first of the two short pieces - which arrive back to back - is not really energetic and changing the overall tone. It's a nice piece, don't get me wrong, but with a slow wandering melody it does not take advantage of its limitations in time. No space to build a theme, a sense of direction; by the time it does it has peaked and is in denouement. Actually the wind down is better than the climb up, and I notice now (blind, me!) that the second short piece is titled Interlude. I could have dashed my own hopes before getting them all up with a bit more attention. Oh well.

The thread of soft - though not distant - sounds is still largely with us. Even when the percussion takes centre stage it is gentle, deadened rather than bright and loud. From the promising start I feel that the album has drifted to a lower ebb. Too slow, too low, too laid back to excite, too relaxed to entice, too mellow to demand more air time. Each piece alone remains nice - well constructed and performed, enjoyable and musical. However they are much of the same ilk, and this is somewhere that I think Svensson was so much stronger in varying tempo, in raising the roof alongside the softer more reflective pieces. For all that I am lamenting the uniformity, Still There is a really gorgeous track. A slow, deliberate trip around one's own living room. It feels intimate, loving, special.

Finally the tempo lifts, and the injection of a little volume stirs me out of reflective stupor. Purpose again - deliberate striving for something, and a darker tone without swamping it with grimness. The difference is the introduction of more bass register keys, conscious wanderings into the left hand's domain, or even just the middle of the keyboard. Where We Went is the outlier that brings definition to everything that came before, providing greater context to what has been and what is to come. Oh, sure, the track slows to a crawl as it concludes, but its job has been done, its race well run, by then. The soaking bucket of active interest emptied over the nodding head that the earlier themes had brought on. The pace does not last into the next track, but the volume remains higher, the sound richer, as the Cocoon is built around me whilst I listen. There are more than shades of Svensson's playing in the latter half of this track for me, but overall the musicianship has been very different from that, emphasising different traits, strengths of the players.

The second half of the disc, then, has had more life than the first; it would be hard to have less and still be enjoyable. There is a stately air about some of it, Vesper in particular. A more measured elegance than the soft sound sculpting of the early tracks. One could also say that it drifts into much more traditional forms as the final track could almost be anyone, a world away from the soft and gentle application on the opener which was like nothing I had heard before. All in all it is a decent disc, although having gone through it in full once I don't think I would want to listen in order again. I did like everything, but I feel it would be better appreciated to sprinkle these in and amongst some livelier fare so I'll keep them with that in mind.

Accelerando - Vijay Iyer Trio

Track List:

1. Bode
2. Optimism
3. The Star of a Story
4. Human Nature (Trio Extension)
5. Wildflower
6. Mmmhmm
7. Little Pocket Size Demons
8. Lude
9. Accelerando
10. Actions Speak
11. The Village of the Virgins

Running time: 59 minutes
Released: 2012

Random contemporary jazz purchase #1 (at least as far as the library progress goes). There was nothing random about 301, and I can only assume that it was my love of Esbjörn Svensson Trio that led me to buy this on a whim, with the aim of expanding my modern piano-jazz range. LastFM has only 3 scrobbles for it though, so I guess I paid no attention. Time to see if there is an undiscovered gem here.

I am not blown away by the opening. Bode is a short track and it seems quiet for a short first track. It builds a bit, but there is no body; over before it really begins. Optimism, eh? Not much of that round here. Leaving the (not so) smart alec response aside the second track starts more promisingly but seems to cave in and stall. The levels seem off to me; the main dude is the pianist, right? The piano seems subservient to the drums and bass, recorded lower, making it less distinct. When it comes through, it is pretty darn good, but too much of the time it is hidden or partially obscured. 2/3rds of the way through it sprouts some life, driven by the bass but with strong support from the keys. The melodies are not spectacular but the playing gains an energy and immediacy that has me really appreciating the track. OK, I think - I might yet regret not having listened sooner.

It is Monday night. I have still not finished the beer I opened an hour and a half ago for the best hour of British TV of the week (Uni Challenge and Only Connect back to back, of course!). Serious consideration from today on about whether I need to find a new job. Only I cannot face doing that really, so I look to bury myself in jazz instead. Just as I think The Star of a Story is making that easy, the piece changes on me and becomes a lot more of a challenging listen. Not atonal, not discordant, not unpleasant... just challenging. It works out, though I prefer Human Nature immediately. More tuneful, more melodic, more Svensson like - this feels like what I was looking for when I made the purchase. Modern jazz; piano front and centre, accompaniment to show it off, rounded sound, contemporary attitude. Unfortunately the musical lilt that was there in the early minutes of the track is lost for a bit in the middle, but the melody - which to me sounds like it has a story to tell - returns again. Then leaves almost immediately, then springs anew - much changed - for the end. I am not keen on the interruptions, but that has more to do with really liking the melodic sections.

We hit a couple of shorter tracks which slide by quickly and easily. nice enough but not arresting and demanding of attention in the way something like Goldwrap is. Mmmhmm does seem to fit a lot into 4 minutes 30, but I cannot imagine driving along, window down, volume up on a blissful summers day to this. The next track introduces some urgency. Unfortunately it does not couple it with great melody (that is Goldwrap's essence, for me) but it it a nice upping of the pace.

Whilst doing this listen I have managed to find a reasonably priced import of Lifeboat, a card game that I am excited to try, thanks to someone on the Shut Up & Sit Down forums who pointed out a US-based eBay seller with reasonable shipping costs. If you're into games and not watching SU&SD, shame on you. Meanwhile the track continues to be more driven than the rest so far. It mixes some good keys with some duller bits and as a whole song I am not convinced.

Somewhere I missed the transition into Lude. This feels like a less modern track somehow. I might be hearing things but the piano makes me think of Monk in places, harking backwards, the rhythm of bass and drums left to keep us in modernity. It grows beyond that, before snapping back to sparseness. I like it. The title track, which follows, immediately feels more of the now (or the 2 years ago, or whatever). Spiky sounds interject and the track does not settle. There is a good piece there waiting to bust out but it seems to be kept constrained, caged and pent up for the 3 minute duration. Tension spills into Actions Speak - a frenetic key-line and pacy tempo, which lull then return over the course of the song the obvious sign. Some of the sections where they lull feel disjointed though, leaving me disappointed.

Now I reach the closer. This does start with a lighter touch, almost a "soundtrack" emptiness to the piece; you could imagine it accompanying some schmaltzy US TV show - at least until the tone changes around the 2 minute mark. At this point the tune picks up. There is still a sentimentality to it that has not been present for any other track on the album but there is more musical interest too. The track is properly piano-led which predisposes me to like it, and it seems to fly by despite being 5 minutes long.

I would not say I have found a gem of an album here but there are definitely some very worthwhile tracks on Accelerando and I am happy to have finally given myself a chance to listen to them.

301 - Esbjörn Svensson Trio

Track List:

1. Behind the Stars
2. Inner City, City Lights
3. The Left Lane
4. Houston, the 5th
5. Three Falling Free Part I
6. Three Falling Free Part II
7. The Childhood Dream

Running time: 60 minutes
Released: 2012

It's late, I cannot sleep - mind buzzing. Maybe because I feel guilty in not doing one of these for a while, as I have been busy? Nah - in actual fact it is more likely a question of being wired by the Bloodbowl game I won earlier, a see-saw match that started (and thus ended) later than I would like as it was my only scheduling option this week. That, and the book I am reading. Ellroy always has me chewing mental scenery. That, and going back to work after a week off.

The passing of Esbjörn Svensson in a diving accident at the age of 44 robbed the world of a great musical talent. 301 is a record, released 4 years after his death, that I have never really listened to. The pieces were recorded at the same time as Leucocyte, but held back by the band after the accident. Late night, whisky in hand, is a good time for jazz though. Maybe it will buy me sleep at the cost of an hour.

Behind the Stars is a gentle opener, short and quiet. There are hints of what I did not like about Leucocyte with discordant notes here and there and I am hoping that is not a theme. See that, not the posthumous thing, is why I never really listened to this album after acquiring it. Inner City, City Lights is much longer: 11.50. Major work. It feels like mood music for Sin City for the first 4, threatening riff and not too much else of note but there is always Svensson's piano to cut through that tension. It is a track to get lost in thought to - as I just have. It is almost mesmeric in rhythm and structure but there is not really enough going on to command full attention, thus I drifted off in thought. Thus far I cannot see any merit in the idea I saw somewhere that this may be E.S.T.'s ultimate album in any sense other than being their final one.

For me, classic E.S.T. is Seven Days of Falling/Tuesday Wonderland - the melodies, the intensity, the sheer joy and power I find in those tracks sets a high bar. So far nothing on this album measures up for my money. The Left Lane is more active, but it does not feel like it hangs together properly. It is another epic in length and I think that works against it. Whether it is growing older, or some other factor, but I am coming to appreciate more these days when things know when to stop. I like endings. There are nice moments in longer tracks, sure, but generally my appreciation is greater for works that build, climax and complete in a more timely fashion. I do not know if it is the same mood that drove me to be writing this now that is interfering with my ability to enjoy the listen, or the fact that I feel like I am hearing a ghost - a sense that does not materialise with their other work.

Or perhaps I just do not like the musical direction they were heading. Houston, the 5th falls into this category for sure. To me, there is nowt musical about this track. Instead it resembles the sort of sound experiments that kids might make with their first recording device. Utter bilge. When it gives way to Three Falling Free Part I there is a ray of hope. This opens with a nice piano line but does not seem to build. Instead it meanders and for some reason I bring to mind Blade Runner, the scene where Rachel sits at the piano. The meander is a pleasant one but, like much that has preceded it, not coherent enough for me to fall in love with, and I find myself wanting Part II to start to see if that (despite its length) is better. This is turning into the most disappointing listen to date, though not the most unpleasant.

Somewhere, it turns out, Part II did start. I missed it whilst looking for a clip of the Blade Runner scene. I also found the review that called this perhaps E.S.T.'s greatest work. I wonder what that guy was smoking. Part II builds more than other tracks to my ear, I would say that it is comfortably ahead in the "star of the album" stakes despite the length. That said, it is not necessarily building to a good conclusion. There is darkness in this piece - and whilst certain sections echo tracks from my favoured albums there is much more... noise. The listener is not encouraged to settle. Some might see this as a good thing; right now, I do not. I will say that once it gets going, the track is anything but dull as a result.

The opening of The Childhood Dream gives me optimism for this track, which the name re-enforces. The tune is much more of a classic jazz melody - not what drew me to E.S.T. but more welcome than the noisy distortionate stuff that seems to have been their bent before it all came to a tragic end.  It is a beautiful tune though, less schmaltzy than Believe, Beleft, Below but of the same cloth. It is a good end to an album that I did not rightly enjoy, and that leaves me feeling happier as I contemplate heading back up to bed and hoping to have better luck with the whole sleep thing this time.


I would not contend that this is a good jazz album for whisky in hand late night listening by any shot, so my earlier comment was clearly made in ignorance. However I cannot bear to clear the album from my library because I love E.S.T. so very much.