Thomas Strønen, Time Is A Blind Guide: Off Stillness
As you would expect from an ensemble led by a drummer, there is rhythm in the music of Thomas Strønen’s new album, Off Stillness. But the rhythm is often little more than an underlying pulse, usually provided by Ole Morten Vågan’s bass as Strønen’s drums embellish, challenge and pull rhythmic phrases out of shape. There is melody as Ayumi Tanaka’s piano picks its way through the shifting sounds of the strings, or as Leo Svensson Sander’s cello carves out an angular but persuasive tune across the rumblings of the piano. And there is a harmony in the strings as they sweep from sweet to more challenging chords.
Fundamentally, though, this music is about sonority and tonality. It’s about shifting rhythms, patterns and sounds. It may not have the ethereal serenity of some other ECM favourites from Scandinavia, but it still has a chilly beauty. An unsettling, often discordant beauty that sometimes pulls the rug from beneath our feet and leaves us floundering. The players don’t flounder, though. They are keenly attuned to the sounds around them. They seem to circle each other, challenging each other, interrupting or perhaps teasing each other, and sometimes coming together in a moment of joyful release.
This works best when there is a recognisable beat, as in In Awe of Stillness, as the violin soars lyrically above an often turbulent sea of percussive sound. Or in Season, when the bass picks out a lilting rhythm as the cello sways into a lyrical, but angular tune that is then picked up by the piano and violin.
Tuesday shows the group at its most lyrical as the cello again leans into a mournful tune which is underpinned by a percussive bass line. Cubism, though, is all about rhythm. The drums establish the rhythm which builds with excitement as they are joined by pizzicato strings and thrusting interventions from the piano. The percussive dissonance of Dismissed, though, is a hard listen. It sounds angry and aggressive. A powerful statement that is not so easy on the ear.
Discography
Memories Of Paul; Season; Fall; Tuesday; Cubism; Dismissed; In Awe Of Stillness (41.05)
Strønen (d); Ayumi Tanaka (p); Hákon Aase (vn); Leo Svensson Sander (clo); Ole Morten Vågan (b). Rainbow Studio, Oslo, December 2021.
ECM 2842
Lorenzo De Finti Quartet: Backlash Of Uncertainty
Lorenzo De Finti has been described as “the missing link between Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, and E.S.T.” A bold claim, but one that reflects the different styles that influence his music. Rock rhythms, electronic and real-time processing, classical minimalism all contribute to the sound of his quartet’s latest offering, Backlash Of Uncertainty, but at its core is a lyricism that is born of jazz.
This mixture of styles could be a mess. That it is not is due mainly to the material, all of which is composed by De Finti and his bass player, Stefano Dall’Ora. The tunes develop and shift. A track driven by a rock rhythm reinforced by electronics will gather momentum and dissolve into a classical sequence which in turn takes on rhythms and harmonies more associated with jazz. Sometimes the sound seems so huge that it is hard to imagine there are only four musicians, but then the listener will be suddenly dropped into a pool of quiet intimacy or even, as in the case of the final track, Occam’s Razor, into silence, before being picked up by a rousing melody.
These are musicians continually responding to each other but never losing balance. They acknowledge their debt to E.S.T but they have developed their own soundscape which has little of the northern coolness of Esbjörn Svensson’s Trio. It is more rousing, more rock-influenced, less contemplative. Andarini’s lyrical trumpet or flugelhorn floats beautifully over the changing rhythms. De Finti’s piano and Dall’Ora’s (often bowed) bass contribute lovely melodic lines. If this recording is anything to go by, the Lorenzo Fe Finti Quartet is a band that will sound very exciting live.
Discography
Backlash Of Uncertainty; The Other Route That Wasn’t There; Nine Bridges In Königsberg; Temporary Shunt; Occam’s Razor (46.22)
De Finti (p); Stefano Dall’Ora (b); Alberto Mandarini (t, flh); Marco Castiglioni (d). Only Music Studio, Turin, 28 February – 2 March 2025.
Losen 318-2
Alex Ventling: Wavemakers
Notes that hang in the air and are allowed to fade; a strong sense of atmosphere; focus on texture and tone rather than groove; influences of modal folk tunes but also of classical impressionism and minimalism; a quartet that includes a vibraphone and violin but no bass: this is about as far away from work song as you can get. This is Nordic jazz.
Which is not to suggest that all jazz from Scandinavia is the same. What makes Trondheim-based Alex Ventling’s music distinctive is his compositions. Repeated rhythmic motifs in the piano and percussion are punctuated by bell sounds – in single notes from the vibraphone or sometimes piano, or in pizzicato tones from the violin. Above this floats the sound of a bowed violin, or, on one track, the vocalese of singer Sissel Vera Pettersen, building an intensity which finally drifts away.
There is an Oriental influence to this music. Ventling practises Vipassana meditation. Vipassana is ancient word meaning “to see things as they really are” and focuses on breathing. This music gives space to breathe, slows the pulse. We are lulled into a dreamy, trance-like state by a music that is calm and serene but not without musical development and sophistication.
The quartet come closest to a groove on Trondheim II, as rhythms shift and overlap to create an effect not dissimilar to Gamelin music, but even in this track the music strives for a spiritual effect. On Traces, piano and percussion mimic the sound of water dripping, and the sound of rain pattering continues on the next track, Trondheim III, which is underpinned by insistent, repetitive bell-like sounds. There is a calm beauty in this music. The quartet will be touring internationally in early 2026 but, sadly for UK fans, mostly in the antipodes.
Discography
Tracking; Omaha; Trondheim I; Trondheim II; Traces; Trondheim III; January; Spiral; Four Refractions (50.31)
Alex Ventling (p, syn); Tuva Halse (vn); Amund Stenøien (vib); August Glännestrand (d); Sissel Vera Pettersen (v on Omaha). Musikkloftet AS Asker, Norway, 12-13 January 2024.
Independent
