Lars Danielsson - Sun Blowing (CD)

Release Date: 04/29/16

An acoustic trio with explosive joy of playing and “a session with an upbeat, freely energizing spirit.” Jazzwise (GB)

It happens so rarely nowadays. Three musicians who make their homes in Copenhagen met for the very first time as a trio at Millfactory Studios on Thursday April 3rd 2014, and the encounter was recorded. They set to work at 2pm, and some six hours later, they emerged, knowing that they had created something very special. As bassist Lars Danielsson commented: “It all went so smoothly. The best thing about improvised music is when it has a flow. We could feel that directly, right from the very first take of “Little Jump”. That is the take to be heard on the album. There was a naturalness about the whole process. The tracks were recorded “as live” on acoustic instruments and mostly in long single takes. The exceptions to that rule are an overdubbed second saxophone part on “Evening Song For B”, and also that Danielsson changed the game at the session itself on a couple of tracks, by creating a subtle veil of programmed harmonies. The three achieve miracles throughout, both in settling into grooves and in giving compelling shape to the free sections. Danielsson and Lund already knew each other from groups of Cæcilie Norby and Ulf Wakenius, but what shines through is Neset’s astonishing and innate sense of pacing.The emotional heart of the album is his composition “Salme” which traverses freely improvised, rhetorical sections recalling the keening sound of Jan Garbarek, but also settles into funky grooves. Another slow number - the only composition not by the band - recalls Michael Brecker: Don Grolnick’s “The Cost Of Living”. According to its website, “the walls of the Millfactory studio have a long history.” Like the painters of the Italian buon fresco who worked directly on wet plaster, these three fine craftsmen have had similar courage. They achieved a memorable “giornata”, and have made a very fine album indeed.