Espen Berg Trio: Entropies
Three years in the making, Entropies, the Espen Berg trio’s fifth album, revolves around the tension between order and dissolution, between the planned and the immediate. The individual melodies might be highly memorable, even explosive, for Berg pushes forward with spontaneously composed pieces and polymetric structures that place both the trio and the listener on the edge of their seats. But in Berg’s own words, “the most important thing about the album format is that it tells a story”. He continues “Entropies – a scientific term used to describe states of disorder and unpredictability – unfold within the music… but it also refers to the many conflicts and challenges we are experiencing in the world today.”
All the pieces are by Berg, excepting Sting’s Russians, all profiting from the intense, virtuosic and playful interplay of his trio. Highlights include the exuberant folkdance steps of The Parade, the repetitive rhythms of Nap Of The Earth, and the romantic lilt of Eidsvals, but in truth there is not a dull moment here. Some of the tracks are coloured by added flute, cello, guitar and vocals, but this is mainly a trio set with a clear and deeply personal imprint, an organic interplay in which precision and freedom exist side by side, and where the music is always in motion.
Together, Espen Berg’s trio challenges and renews the classic piano trio format through its use of complex rhythmic language, deep harmonic insight, and great melodic strength. The trio has been in existence since 2014, and shows no signs of letting up yet. This uncompromising, vital set reaffirms its continuing dominance today.
Discography
Equilibrium Suite, Pts 1 & 2; Rue Saint-Michel; The Pride; Nap Of The Earth; XXI; Eidsvals; Russians; Transients (44.01)
Berg (p); Bárdur Reinert Poulsen (b); Simon Albertsen (d). Plus Flavia Huarachi (f); Joakim Munker (clo); Nils Olav Johansen (g, v). Trondheim, Norway, 16–17 December 2024.
Svale Records SvaleCD5001
Armen Donelian: Inquiry
Pianist Armen Donelian’s latest album – his 15th – has an interesting back story. It started life in 2020 as a solo piano project featuring his new compositions, but, after much listening and reflecting, Donelian overdubbed new piano parts on to some tracks in 2022 in order to enhance their harmonies and strengthen their inner melodies, to, in a sense, “orchestrate” them. His intention was somewhat akin to Bill Evans’s overdubbed Conversations With Myself album. Two years later he invited vocalist Dominque Eade, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Dennis Mackrel to add some more overdubs. That quartet then recorded Blue In Green, the only live ensemble track on this set, and its related Aqua Reminiscence, extracted from the solo section of an alternate take. A few months later, Donelian then asked trombonist Ed Neumeister to add some finishing touches to Dark Moon and Inverted Reality. All this work took place for Donelian during a period of intense personal change, as he turned the pages and felt lost in life. So, does it all hold together?
From the very first notes of the opening, pensive Beyond, the answer is decidedly yes. Nothing here is ever hurried or taken at the wrong tempo. Pitch and timing are exquisite throughout, the whole set coherent and complete. The slow theme of the Bernstein Sondheim classic Somewhere is accompanied by a tinkling backdrop that adds its own magic as the theme becomes more abstracted. Blue In Green benefits from Cassandra Wilson’s lyrics, in contrast to the solo piano treatment of Dark Moon, a contrafact of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, over which trombonist Neumeister growls and croons in protest at the current baleful state of the American nation. More political responses surface in the lengthy Inverted Reality, an 11-minute arc of solo piano and its instrumental orchestration. The other tracks are equally bittersweet and poignant, the requiem Too Soon Gone heartrending in its pathos.
Donelian ends his sleeve notes stating that this album “expresses my love for the piano sound as a refuge, a zone of safety, a spacious place where soul-searching is welcomed and supported”. He concludes “I invite the listener to enter this place of unrelenting musical introspection, to rest, listen, and perhaps find a way home.” Accept his invitation, and feel restored.
Discography
Beyond; Somewhere; Blue In Green; Dark Moon; What Is; Inverted Reality; Petite Triste; Weeping Willow; Too Soon Gone; Aqua Reminiscence (65.06)
Donelian (p); Dominque Eade (v); Ed Neumeister (tb); Jay Anderson (b); Dennis Mackrel (d). New York, 2020–24.
Sunnyside SSC4040
Eddie Gripper: Americana
In 2022, Welsh pianist and composer Eddie Gripper, armed with only a tent and some manuscript paper, hitchhiked for six weeks with his friend Henry more than 8,000 km down the west coast of North America, from Prudhoe Bay inside the Arctic Circle through Alaska and Canada to Los Angeles and the Pacific coast of the USA. Along the journey he sketched out more than 30 musical fragments, fleeting impressions and fully formed compositions that make up seven of the eight tracks on this album. Paul Simon’s concluding American Tune serves as a poignant summation of their hopes and disillusionment, for as he recalls, “I saw incredible things and met extraordinary people, but couldn’t shake the sense that, beneath its generous optimism, America remains deeply flawed.”
The music here is an account of this journey, of Gripper’s personal responses to America and a reflection of the American spirit, in all its fractured reality, not a homage to American music itself. The opening Third Beach recalls a rare moment of calm as the two emerge out of the Canadian wilderness into the civilization of Vancouver, So Long Oregon is another peaceful reminiscence, while Dana is named after the second highest peak in the Yosemite National Park, a beautiful and terrifying climb that left the pair feeling impossibly small. Perhaps best of all is the brief One For The Road, a heartfelt tribute to the late fathers of our two travellers.
Gripper is an engaging pianist, not afraid of the quieter moments, and an assured composer. Clem Saynor is a strong bassist, while drummer Patrick Barrett–Donion is consistently interesting in the background and a committed soloist when given the chance. Together they recall the saying that travel broadens the mind, something Eddie Gripper did not fully understand until his lengthy summer’s hike in 2022.
Discography
Third Beach; So Long, Oregon; Dana; One For The Road; Oceans Avenue; Terminus; American Tune (37.20)
Gripper (p); Clem Saynor (b); Patrick Barrett–Donion (d). Penarth, Wales, 29–30 April 2025.
MultiRingo Records MRR001
