KJETIL HUSEBO - Steps
(Optical Substance Productions)
Kjetil Husebo - solo piano
Steps is an entirely acoustic solo piano recording, and represents something of a departure into new musical territories for Norwegian, Kjetil Husebo. For, not only does Husebo eschew his usual electronic instrumentations for this recording but he switches to music of a solely improvised mode.
Recorded in a short session, the press release tells us, in December 2014 on the rather nice Steinway grand at the legendary Rainbow Studios in Osle, by equally legendary producer and engineer, Jan Erik Kongshaug, the CD is certainly a treat for tired ears. You couldn’t get closer to the action even if you lay underneath the piano in Oslo. And sound quality aside, there is plenty to admire here, if not to over-excite the curious listener.
Husebo is a subtle improvisor, capable of well-judged restraint and with a wide source of melodic territories at his disposal. In short phases, there is no track on this CD longer than 5 minutes, he explores quite distinct harmonic realms to produce a pleasing range of textures and colours.
That said, the CD left me with a nagging sense that its total is not quite the sum of its parts. It never quite attains the kind of immersive pull that many might seek in the process of harmonic improvisation through a few unexpected twists and turns or revelations. Or even to grab me with a little more free flowing and robust energy, anything, something, that might amount to a stand-out moment. Close it comes in tracks such as Inversion and Reverence For Otherness, but it also fails in the other direction. The opening track, Far But Near, is just too close to being a cliche of solo piano, modal expression to be right as the opening statement or even present in its line-up. An unsatisfying opener is for sure a problem.
This is a reviewer left wondering what might have been had more time been available to the recording. Maybe longer explorations of the material and fewer tracks might have freed this up a little, but nonetheless, there is for sure some quality and finesse at work here.
Reviewed by Peter Urpeth
(Optical Substance Productions)
Kjetil Husebo - solo piano
Steps is an entirely acoustic solo piano recording, and represents something of a departure into new musical territories for Norwegian, Kjetil Husebo. For, not only does Husebo eschew his usual electronic instrumentations for this recording but he switches to music of a solely improvised mode.
Recorded in a short session, the press release tells us, in December 2014 on the rather nice Steinway grand at the legendary Rainbow Studios in Osle, by equally legendary producer and engineer, Jan Erik Kongshaug, the CD is certainly a treat for tired ears. You couldn’t get closer to the action even if you lay underneath the piano in Oslo. And sound quality aside, there is plenty to admire here, if not to over-excite the curious listener.
Husebo is a subtle improvisor, capable of well-judged restraint and with a wide source of melodic territories at his disposal. In short phases, there is no track on this CD longer than 5 minutes, he explores quite distinct harmonic realms to produce a pleasing range of textures and colours.
That said, the CD left me with a nagging sense that its total is not quite the sum of its parts. It never quite attains the kind of immersive pull that many might seek in the process of harmonic improvisation through a few unexpected twists and turns or revelations. Or even to grab me with a little more free flowing and robust energy, anything, something, that might amount to a stand-out moment. Close it comes in tracks such as Inversion and Reverence For Otherness, but it also fails in the other direction. The opening track, Far But Near, is just too close to being a cliche of solo piano, modal expression to be right as the opening statement or even present in its line-up. An unsatisfying opener is for sure a problem.
This is a reviewer left wondering what might have been had more time been available to the recording. Maybe longer explorations of the material and fewer tracks might have freed this up a little, but nonetheless, there is for sure some quality and finesse at work here.
Reviewed by Peter Urpeth
