Record Reviews

PAST PRESENT & TORTUSA ~ ETERNAL RETURN JAZZLAND 34 (Barcode: 687437792359) ~ NORWAY ~ Avant-Garde Jazz Recorded: 2017 Released: 2019 This is the debut album by Norwegian trio comprising of the Jazz duo Past PresentFind albums by this artist– trumpeter Simen Kiil HalvorsenFind albums by this artist and bassist Alexander HoholmFind albums by this artist – and electronics / live sampling artist TortusaFind albums by this artist. The album presents three extended tracks, co-credited to the three participants. The music is a unique mixture of Improvised Jazz Music and ambient outings, which create together layers of hypnotic soundscapes, which lack focus but offer a continuous aural experience, which can be followed attentively. Except for the trumpet voicing, this music has almost nothing to do with Jazz per se, in the conventional meaning of the idiom, but it might be one of the many contemporary Avant-Garde Jazz explorations, which European musicians are undertaking in order to push the boundaries of the genre. For most conventional Jazz enthusiasts this music is absolutely weird and perhaps even unlistenable, but the few open-minded and intellectually feverish individuals, this music might be extremely revealing and surprisingly beautiful. In order to develop every Art Form, including music of course, needs experimentation and search for new ways of expression. Without them Culture becomes stagnant, as it happened so many times during human history. This music is exactly such kind of experiment, which is completely unconventional, without destroying the European aesthetics and the Jazz tradition. I warmly recommend this music and hope listeners will give it a proper chance, as it truly deserves it. Many (and perhaps most) Avant-Garde experiments are simply vain forms of masturbation, which have no purpose except self satisfaction of those involved in their creation, but this music proves that Avant-Garde is still a risk worth taking.

Updated: 26/10/2019Posted: 08/10/2019

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EIVIND AARSET ~ I. E. JAZZLAND 602547307248 (Barcode: 602547307248) ~ NORWAY ~ Electronic & Ambient Recorded: 2015 Released: 2015 This is the seventh album by Norwegian guitarist / composer Eivind AarsetFind albums by this artist, which comes three years after its predecessor released on the ECMFind albums on this label label, and sees Aarset returning to the Norwegian JazzlandFind albums on this label Recordings label, which released all his other albums so far. The album has a very long list of participants including a horn section, but the core of the musicians involved includes drummers / multi-instrumentalists Erland DahlenFind albums by this artist and Wetle HolteFind albums by this artist, bassist Audun ErlienFind albums by this artist and co-producer Jan BangFind albums by this artist. Italian vocalist Lorenzo Esposito FornasariFind albums by this artist guests on one track. The album consists of nine original compositions (one being a three-part suite); six by Aarset and three co-composed by Aarset with (in turn) Holte, Fornasari or Bang. Although Aarset is often described as a Jazz musician, with Nu Jazz being a much better labeling attempt, his music in general and certainly this album have absolutely nothing to do with the "conventional" concept of the Jazz idiom. Although there is an element of improvisation and intrinsic freedom embedded in his music, it moves in spheres different from Jazz, much closer to contemporary Classical Music, electronic and ambient music and even experimental Pop. Even if one has a very liberal and broad-spectrum approach to defining contemporary Jazz, as I hope I have, connecting this music to Jazz is both dishonest and completely inappropriate. Having said that, just in order to keep things in the right perspective, this music is absolutely stunning in its raw beauty, aesthetic power and overwhelming emotional resonance. Aarset is anything but a conventional guitarist and in fact the term guitarist hardly even applies to his music-making. Although guitars are involved, they are only a source of sounds, which later are transposed, over-layered, multiplied and radically transfixed, all this using contemporary electronic sound devices, into a new universe of sonic reality. The only link to music, as we know it, is the use of percussive instruments, which create a wall of sound effect behind the layers of electronically manipulated guitar sounds. It is difficult to speak about the conventional sense of melody and harmony in this music. Again, except for a rhythmic beat, everything else is fluid and shifting; bits of melodies come and go, replaced by electronic sound vistas, and suddenly moving into a new rhythmic pattern with another fractured melodic theme. And yet all this seemingly chaotic behavior not only makes perfect sense, but also touches the listener playing on the emotional strings of his deep soul as well as creating an abstract and complex intellectual experience of wonderful weirdness. Cold on the outside, as most Scandinavian music, with its lethargic minimalism and sluggish forward motion, this music is red-hot on the inside if only one dares to explore. One word of warning: do not listen to this music while driving as it may take over the listener so completely that his presence in charge of a speeding car might just shift into a parallel reality. This album is a treasure chest of superb musical moments, which is simply too good to be ignored. Make yourself a favor and get a copy ASAP, since my meager attempt to describe this music is simply infinitesimally less potent than the real deal. Hats off!

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