There may seem to be a contradiction between Peter Erskine’s vigorous work for Weather Report and the subdued ECM ethos, but it should be remembered that even amidst the ostensible fusion of Steps Ahead Erskine developed a strong line in propulsive understatement. Here, that development reaches a logical conclusion in another instalment of the dripping impressionism and quiet drama which typifies Erskine’s work for ECM. Like Taylor and Danielsson, Erskine subscribes wholeheartedly (or should that be halfheartedly?) to ECM’s policy of restraint, but despite that deferentiality, his virtuosity and musicality are well in evidence, notably in his embellishments in the coda of Vince Mendoza’s Esperança. Perhaps the prettiest and most interesting piece here is Erskine’s arrangement of William Walton’s Touch Her Soft Lips And Part, previously heard, voiced for a larger group, on Erskine’s solo BMG album Sweet Soul. It’s no doubt significant that this classical chamber piece translates perfectly into an ECM piano ballad.
Discography
Glebe Ascending; The Lady In The Lake; Episode; Woodcocks; Esperança; Touch Her Soft Lips And Part; Au Contraire; For Ruth; Romeo And Juliet (57.18)
John Taylor (p); Palle Danielsson (b); Erskine (d). Oslo, September 1995.
(ECM 1594)
