Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Elastic Wave (2022)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 44:18 minutes | 846 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM
Acoustic Unity, driven by the stick work of prolific Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen along with his longtime compositional collaborator and saxophonist André Roligheten and Swedish bassist Petter Eldh, plays explorative post-bop originals that can lean into free jazz or up the tempos and grow agitated, before sliding into a wonderfully melodic slow mode. While the title of the trio’s last album, To Whom Who Buys a Record, was a direct nod to Ornette Coleman and his To Who Whom Keeps a Record album, Roligheten, who can at times sound like John Coltrane, here more resembles a friskier, young Sonny Rollins: short honks, streaking statements and fleet galloping. Recorded at Studios La Buissonne in France in June 2021, the sound, as is usual with all ECM productions, is peerless, natural with wide dynamics and a flawless sonic image. In “Lokket til Jon, og skjerfet til Paul” Roligheten goes low and lazy; beautiful ideas ooze out of his horn as Nilssen sensitively accompanies entirely on cymbals. Showing his versatility, if not virtuosity, in “The Other Village,” the reedist plays multiple horns which do not sound overdubbed, à la Roland Kirk. “Cercle 85,” with Roligheten on clarinet, is the trio at their quietest and most reflective. That’s followed by the jumpy, wryly titled “Acoustic Dance Music.” Both “The Room Next to Her” and “Spending Time with Ludvig” benefit from quotes that are cleverly disguised enough to be maddeningly familiar but unnamable. Although ECM visionary Manfred Eicher’s name does not appear anywhere on the album, which is very unusual, this is yet another example of his superpower of finding and recording sharp, ambitious Eurojazz.
Tracklist:
1-01. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Altaret (03:49)
1-02. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Spending Time with Ludvig (04:03)
1-03. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Dreignau (03:14)
1-04. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Influx Delight (04:50)
1-05. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Lokket til Jon, og skjerfet til Paul (04:21)
1-06. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – The Other Village (03:29)
1-07. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Boogie (04:58)
1-08. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Cercle 85 (02:42)
1-09. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Acoustic Dance Music (04:08)
1-10. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – Til Liv (03:49)
1-11. Gard Nilssen Acoustic Unity – The Room Next To Her (04:49)
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