MATS EILERTSEN - Rubicon (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

On his leader debut for ECM, bassist/composer Mats Eilertsen surrounds himself with players he has worked with in various contexts over the last 15 years. He has appeared on the label many times under the leadership of Tord Gustavsen, Jacob Young, Nils Økland, and Mathias Eick. This septet date is the largest ensemble he's ever assembled on record -- though they seldom play together. Among his collaborators are saxophonist/clarinetist Eirik Hegdal and guitarist Thomas Dahl, both of whom he's worked with since the '90s in Dingobats; ex-pat American Rob Waring on vibraphones and marimbas, drummer Olavi Louhivuori, pianist Harmen Fraanje, and saxophonist Trygve Seim. Rubicon began its life as a commission from the Vossajazz Festival in 2014. The music changed shape and was tightened on the road until producer Manfred Eicher and engineer Jan Eric Kongshaug captured it in Oslo's Rainbow Studio in May 2015.

Those familiar with Eilertsen's work with his Turanga or SkyDive bands will know that he doesn't compose to showcase his own playing. He writes for ensembles, or, in this case, subgroups of them. Opener "Canto" is an intimate, gentle dialogue for saxophone (Seim) and Hegdal's clarinet. Cymbal washes and sparse, crystalline, middle-register piano join the bassline. A Spanish tinge lies in its speculative melody. "March" is almost dirge-like in tempo, but it's colorful; it also contains traces of folk melody before moving off into an almost rockist groove via the guitarist's tremolo bar, Fraanje's Rhodes and acoustic piano, and Waring's sparkling vibes before an outside tenor solo. Though "Balky" commences with a bass solo, piano, brushed drums, tenor saxophone, guitar, and marimba eventually add layers, delivering the most songlike melody on the set. The interplay between Seim's solo and Dahl's illustrative electric guitar fills is gorgeous. "Blublue," with its staggered lyric line, is more harmonically open, with elegant use of vibes and Bill Frisell-esque guitar vamps while saxophones and vibes gently circle outward until the piano and an alto horn circle back. "September" is a vehicle for Dahl. His guitar is at the forefront with drums and vibes, as the horns add staggered fills in the backdrop. It's the closest thing to conventional "jazz" here, with a nearly euphoric sense of rhythmic syncopation. Rubicon delivers a series of fine compositions that explore various combinations of intimate, exploratory sounds along (mostly) subtle color lines and elegantly arrayed textural palettes. They evoke an inherent lyricism that, for all its restraint, is tonally expansive and harmonically smart. by Thom Jurek  
Tracklist:
1 Canto 5:36
Mats Eilertsen
2 Cross the Creek 2:22
Harmen Fraanje
3 March 8:07
Mats Eilertsen
4 Balky 6:47
Mats Eilertsen
5 Lago 7:00
Mats Eilertsen
6 BluBlue 7:27
Mats Eilertsen
7 Wood and Water 2:05
Mats Eilertsen / Eirik Hegdal / Rob Waring
8 September 8:01
Mats Eilertsen
9 Reminiscent 4:39
Mats Eilertsen
10 Introitus 2:21
Mats Eilertsen
Credits
     Double Bass – Mats Eilertsen
    Drums – Olavi Louhivuori
    Guitar – Thomas T Dahl
    Marimba, Vibraphone – Rob Waring
    Piano, Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Harmen Fraanje
    Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher
    Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – Eirik Hegdal
    Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Trygve Seim

WOLFGANG MUTHSPIEL - Where the River Goes [2018] ECM [24-96]

In 2016, Austrian guitarist and composer Wolfgang Muthspiel released the widely celebrated quintet offering Rising Grace as his sophomore effort for ECM. Its meditative -- and sometimes oblique -- compositions were riven with smooth, percolating grooves and an intelligent, canny conversation among the players, thanks in no small part to the musicians recording live in the same room. Muthspiel returns to the same French studio with three of those sidemen -- pianist Brad Mehldau, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, and bassist Larry Grenadier -- with Eric Harland replacing Brian Blade on drums. Just as on Rising Grace, Muthspiel penned all but one of these eight tunes, with "Blueshead" composed by Mehldau. The guitarist uses electric and acoustic instruments in tunes that reveal the conversational m.o. of this band.

The opening title cut is introduced by Muthspiel's electric with sparse fingerpicking before pulsing a chord pattern to introduce Mehldau, who in turn articulates the lyric in elliptical tones. Grenadier enters, adding weight and increasing the tempo before Harland and Akinmusire approach, adding force, color, and texture as the melodic body ascends to a euphoric plateau. Muthspiel's solo winds above and through his bandmates' dialogue, framing the proceedings with scalar single-note queries and chordal accents. In "For Django," the band offers the head in unison before Mehldau and Muthspiel turn around one another in widening circles while Akinmusire finds choice moments to underscore their contrapuntal inquiries. "Clearing" is a group improv piece fueled by Harland's breaks and syncopated trap beats. The groove remains deep even as Mehldau takes it outside, pushing off from the vamp to go deeper. Akinmusire employs a rainbow of tonalities in his solo before paring the entire proceeding down for Muthspiel to carry it out. The guitarist plays solo acoustic on the lovely "Buenos Aires," a three-and-a-half-minute exercise in harmonic inquiry inside a ballad.

"One Day My Prince Was Gone" is a vehicle for Akinmusire and Mehldau. The former makes use of his immense creativity and technical skills to embrace everything from New Orleans jazz to Miles' modalism to vanguard exposition in ever increasing modes of tension, while the latter and Grenadier frame his statements and the guitarist offers tight, single-string leads as ballast for the labyrinthine trumpet lines. By contrast, Mehldau's "Blueshead" is a muscular exercise in fingerpopping post-bop. All five members showcase their soloing chops. Muthspiel in particular is notable for his fleet, spidery arpeggios that swing like mad. Mehldau sits out the brief closer, "Panorama," as the guitarist and the rhythm section stretch Brazilian rhythmic interpolations to meet elements of classical and even flamenco musics. Where the River Goes is more speculative than its predecessor, but it's so kinetic in its group engagement, it doesn't feel that way. Its seemingly effortless conversation sets a new bar for this group going forward. by Thom Jurek
Tracklist
    1     Where the River Goes    7:42
Wolfgang Muthspiel
    2     For Django    7:15
Wolfgang Muthspiel
    3     Descendants    5:32
Wolfgang Muthspiel
    4     Clearing   7:26
Ambrose Akinmusire / Larry Grenadier / Eric Harland / Brad Mehldau / Wolfgang Muthspiel
    5     Buenos Aires    3:37
Wolfgang Muthspiel
    6     One Day My Prince Was Gone    5:31
Wolfgang Muthspiel
    7     Blueshead    7:41
Brad Mehldau
    8     Panorama    3:27
Wolfgang Muthspiel
Credits
    Double Bass – Larry Grenadier
    Drums – Eric Harland
      Guitar – Wolfgang Muthspiel
    Piano – Brad Mehldau
    Producer [Produced By] – Manfred Eicher
    Trumpet – Ambrose Akinmusire

WOLFGANG MUTHSPIEL - Where the River Goes
[2018] ECM 2610 / FLAC [24bit-96khz]

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