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Stories   >   A wonderful debut from a quartet that has much to say, and hopefully the time and opportunity to do so / JAZZ VIEWS

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A wonderful debut from a quartet that has much to say, and hopefully the time and opportunity to do so / JAZZ VIEWS

Posted: May 8, 2025

JAZZ VIEWS - Nick LeaMay writes….It has long been acknowledged how ECM nurture their artists. Like the musicians themselves, the label is in it for the long haul. It is within this culture that musicians grow and mature individually and collectively in many established groups that stay together for extended periods of time.

Out of this longevity paths cross and intertwine and new relationships and groups are forged as is the case on this beautiful and exploratory album. All four musicians are more than familiar with each other and have made music together in various permutations, but this is their first recording together as an ensemble.

The origins of the group came together, initially conceived as a trio by drummer Markku Onaskari along with Trygve Seim and Anders Jormin as all three had been part of the group led by Sinikka Langeland. The addition of trumpeter Arve Henriksen, at the suggestion of Seim, opens up the possibilities within the group, and indeed the interaction between Henriksen and Seim is a constant source of enjoyment throughout.

With a programme that seamlessly transitions between the composed and improvised, the group already have an identity and sound world of their own. This is clearly heard on the improvised ‘Folkesong’ that often give the impression of being pre-composed, and is greatly enhanced by Henriksen’s decision to move away from his dialogue with Seim and out down his trumpet and using his electronics to create background for the soprano saxophone to develop the theme and take the music forward. This leads to the delightful ‘Trofast’ written by Seim, who is still on soprano but hands over his gently lyrical theme over to Henriksen’s delicately phrased trumpet.

Subtle and delicate moments abound on this scintillating album, with the compositions and improvisations so intuitively played as to blur the lines. The interplay between melodic and full tones tenor saxophone and to fragility inherent in the trumpet playing of Henriksen are another highlight in Jormin’s composition ‘Koto’, and the relationship once again shifts in another piece by the bassist in ‘Elegy’.

The quartet cut loose in a splendid dialogue on ‘Old Dreams’ and acknowledge the history and source of their music in referencing the traditional Kven/Finnish hymn ‘Armon Lapset’ albeit using the psalm as Jormin explains “as a starting point for a very free interpretation, quite far away from the original habitat.”

It is this wilful and sometimes playful interaction between the musicians and the material that brings forth a cornucopia of dramatic, tender and lyrical moments that appear as if out of thin air. A wonderful debut from a quartet that seemingly has much more to say, and hopefully the time and opportunity to do so.


ECM 2795 / 751 0477

Arve Henriksen (trumpet, electronics); Trygve Seim (soprano & tenor saxophones); Anders Jormin (double bass); Markku Ounaskari (drums, percussion)
Recorded March 2023
 

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