Frederik Villmow Trio - Motion (CD)

Release Date: 09/03/21

Lovely piano trio music with 4 originals from Frederik Villmow and 3 well known standards like Blame It On My Youth ao.

The piano trio is a classic format in jazz history and opens up for different methods of approach.
On this recording I was happy to collaborate with two of the finest musicians on the Norwegian and European jazz scenes; pianist Vigleik Storaas and bassist Bjørn Marius Hegge.
They had previously worked together in different contexts, amongst them in Bjørn Marius' own quintet, 'Hegge'. I had known and worked with Bjørn Marius and Vigleik for a couple of years during our time on the Trondheim jazz scene. Both are very interactive and intuitive in their playing.
The trio format leaves plenty of space for the individual musicians and the goal is to complete each other whilst spontaneously creating music together, as one organism.
My aim was to write tunes that would provide a basis for different moods and atmospheres, leaving enough space for the individuals to interpret them in their own way.
'December Waltz' is a jazz-waltz with a trough-composed theme in a classic head-soloists-head form. 'Open Landscape One' and 'Open Landscape Two' are based on a short 8-bar sketch of a melody, filled out by an open trio improvisation. The idea here was to cross the line between melody and improvisation, between soloist and accompanists. To follow intuition to see where we would end up. 'Slow Motion' is a ballad-type tune featuring Bjørn Marius on bass.
In addition to the original compositions, we selected some jazz standards.
Bjørn Marius brought 'A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening' to the recording session. Vigleik contributed 'Blame It On My Youth', and I chose one of my favourites, 'Like Someone In Love'.
The recording session was for me one of the few occasions during the Covid-19 pandemic to play with other musicians.
I am very thankful for the encouragement from Vigleik and Bjørn Marius during the recording process, as well as their open ears and contribution of ideas.

Frederik Villmow, May 2021