“We never solo and we always solo” – or some such – was how Weather Report liked to characterise their special take on the interplay of solo expression and group dynamics. This fluid, dream-like release from Americans Willesen and Ferm and the Danish Kjeldsen and Christensen should be honey to the soul for any who have drunk deeply from the lyrical side of the WR well.
Kjeldsen and Christensen are among the finest on the contemporary Danish scene while the CVs of Wollesen and Ferm speak volumes. Wollesen can count Bill Frisell, John Zorn, Tom Waits, Norah Jones and John Lurie among his many associates while Ferm – who settled in Copenhagen a couple of decades ago – has worked with, a.o. Yusef Lateef, Roswell Rudd, Jakob Bro, Maria Faust, Kurt Rosenwinkel and Tyshawn Sorey.
While this is the first time that Willesen (d, pc, etc!) and Ferm (ts, f, cl, etc!) have recorded together, over the past decade or so they have shared sideman status in various groups. The subtle level of musical empathy they display here is beyond uncanny: ditto the contributions of Kjeldsen (gs) andChristensen (b).
Apart from Sonny Boy – where Ferm’s tender tenor reading brought late Lester Young to mind – and Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’, Heart In Hand features all-original material. Lengthier pieces are complemented by short “interludes” worked on by Willesen and Ferm and integrated into the whole, after the initial generative recording session had been fleshed out by some overdubs from both co-leaders. The result? Nothing but the most soulful, shape-shifting soundscapes of pure painterly joy.
Sample the “quiet intensity” of the suspended reveries in the six-minute Down And Forward, where Ferm and Kjeldsen come on strong (but, as always, deliciously patient and measured) in what is perhaps the most compelling piece here. But the essence of this sui generis music lies not in any single achievement, but rather, the sustained magic of the evolving and superbly integrated poetic whole.
Discography
Sonny Boy; Satan Doll; Mnemonic; Down And Forward; Bloom; Barn Dance; Agora; Child’s Play; Color Field; Finding Dorian; Johnny Garr; Heat In Hand; Oh, What A Beautiful Mornin’ (45.09)
Wollesen (d, pc, p, vib); Ferm (ts, f, cl, vn, pc, elp); Rune Kjeldsen (gs); Anders Christensen (b). Copenhagen & New York, August & December 2021.
Stunt Records STUCD 22022
