Second release by this young European trio again features ravishing compositions and improvised soundscapes.

The second release by this young European trio (their first is titled Equilibrium but listed under the artists' names) again features astonishing vocal effects, guitar atmospherics, and reed playing in a program of ravishing compositions and improvised soundscapes. Mikkel Ploug, guitars, Sissel Vera Pettersen, voice, soprano sax and live electronics, and Joachim Badenhorst, clarinet and bass clarinet, synthesize elements of jazz, folk/world, classical, minimalism and the avant-garde in a fresh, unique way that has garnered great press on both sides of the Atlantic. Sensuous and highly interactive, their music also has a free-floating, dreamlike aura that has attracted many listeners from beyond jazz.

Edited from over three hours of improvs and featuring new compositions by all three group members, the music balances unexpected developments and organizational clarity, melodic and harmonic inventiveness and expansive textures and dynamics, all reflecting a finely honed group interaction.

Each of the three has their own characteristic methods and aesthetic. Sissel Vera Pettersen is a Norwegian vocalist who for has been co-leading groups and/or recording with the likes of Theo Bleckmann, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Toumani Diabate. Her style combines a cool, sensuous timbre with techniques inspired by a wide range of folk music and non-western cultures, even birdsong, often morphed through looping and other live electronics.

Joachim Badenhorst is Belgian; a member of the Han Bennink Trio, his elegant yet pungent playing reflects an interest in 'music that is hard to catch or corner...early Dave Douglas, Tim Berne, Dans les Arbres, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Zorn, Braxton, Threadgill, and doom bands like Sunn O))).'

Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug, Equilibrium's main composer, also leads the Mikkel Ploug Group and Trio (featuring Mark Turner), with 3 releases on Fresh Sound. His guitars knit together sonic and harmonic space and provide rhythmic impetus.

Track Listing

• Addicted to Changes
• Silverise
• Eclasticity
• Lonely House
• Chagan
• Stolon
• Running Through Fields Theme
• Wolkenregen
• Whitless
• A Word
• Walking Voices
• Singletrees
• Follow
• Three Fragments for Equilibrium
• Sires

Additional Details

Label: Songlines

Genre: Jazz

Run Time: 58 mins

Release Date: 04/12/11

UPC: 774355158722