Part of a generation for whom the blurring of genre boundaries is second nature, Swedish keyboards player, composer and producer Martin Hederos had already enjoyed a glittering career with rock band The Soundtrack Of Our Lives before joining Dan Berglund’s Tonbruket and Mats Gustaffson’s Fire! Orchestra.
Amongst his 200+ recordings you’ll find writing and production credits for Sami pop sensation Ane Brun and numerous film scores, and he has even arranged pieces for the Gothenburg and Swedish Radio Symphony orchestras.
This is his fourth solo recording, but unlike the series of self-penned and crystal-cut miniatures heard on 2017’s brilliant Sally Wiola Sessions Hederos this time chooses to immerse himself in the twilit world of Erik Satie. Approaching the task with the customary zeal of a method actor, he gets so deeply inside his subject’s head that he can instinctually reanimate the material in a fresh, contemporary light.
The set opens with perhaps Satie’s most famous piece of all, the mysteriously floating Gymnopédie No. 1, here played by a gently ambulating trio of piano, bass and drums. It’s the first of two tracks with bassist Berglund, and is the album’s most overtly improvised piece.
Gnossienne No. 1 and the last of the two Reflections On Pièces Froides are gently disrupted by Stockholm electronica act Krypto Grotesk, while the second reading of Gymnopédie No. 1 is more radical yet. Played on organ, it must be light years from what Satie envisioned. In a remarkable piece of musical alchemy, Hederos holding on to its essential dissonances and temporal ambiguities with consummate ease.
With its strong neo-classical airs c/o Satie is perhaps more likely to appeal to followers of Nils Frahm and Ólafur Arnalds than the regular jazz clientele, but for readers in touch with the broader spectrum of contemporary music there is much to enjoy here.
Discography:
Gymnopédie No.1; Gnossienne No.2; Gymnopédie No.3; Petite Ouverture À Danser; Ogive No.3; Gnossienne No.1; Reflections On Pièces Froides: No. 2: Trois Danses De Travers; Reflections On Nocturne No.1; Reflections On Pièces Froides Set 1, “Airs À Faire Fuir” No.2; Gymnopédie No.1 Revisited (46.51)
Hederos (p, kyb, vn) with Dan Berglund (b) on 1 and 8; Anton Sundell (elec) on 6 and 9; Konrad Agnes (d) on 10. Studio Bruket and Studio Ingrid, Stockholm.
Warner Classics / X5 Music 5054197129841
