ARNE TORVIK TRIO - Northwestern Songs
Losen: LOS240-2
Arne Torvik: piano; Bjornar Kaldefoss Tveite: double bass; Oystein Aarnes Vik: drums
Recorded June 2019 by Aleksander Sjolie at Newtone Studio, Oslo
Paring down from the quintet with which he recorded ‘Northwestern Sounds’ in 2016, Torvik continues to create blissfully melodic tunes that capture the stark beauty of landscape north of the Arctic Circle. Not for nothing is track 4 called Åpent rom (which means ‘open space’); with its meandering piano figures and cyclical bass line it reminds me of the swirling patterns of the northern lights over a snowy expanse. Whether or not this was the image that Torvik had in mind when he composed the piece is not known to me, but I enjoy the ways in which his tunes almost force the listener to conjure images. On most of the tunes, the melodies develop slowly…
On other tracks, such as ‘Compromises’ which opens the set and ‘Iver’, track 6, the rhythm section shift between several musical styles, as much in the field of nu-soul and hip-hop as jazz and the piano simply embellishes these shifts with well-spaced chords that wax and wane in intensity. The opening chords on the opening track could be an introduction to a gentle nu-soul ballad, with the piano fills hinting at the phrasing in the chorus. Like several of the tunes on this set, there is the feeling that the tunes are telling intimate stories without words as much as they are revealing the landscape around the musicians. We often use the phrase ‘cinematic’ to describe music that we could imagine accompanying a movie; in the case of Arne Torvik’s tunes, perhaps, the music is telling of the journey that is at the heart of the story.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Losen: LOS240-2
Arne Torvik: piano; Bjornar Kaldefoss Tveite: double bass; Oystein Aarnes Vik: drums
Recorded June 2019 by Aleksander Sjolie at Newtone Studio, Oslo
Paring down from the quintet with which he recorded ‘Northwestern Sounds’ in 2016, Torvik continues to create blissfully melodic tunes that capture the stark beauty of landscape north of the Arctic Circle. Not for nothing is track 4 called Åpent rom (which means ‘open space’); with its meandering piano figures and cyclical bass line it reminds me of the swirling patterns of the northern lights over a snowy expanse. Whether or not this was the image that Torvik had in mind when he composed the piece is not known to me, but I enjoy the ways in which his tunes almost force the listener to conjure images. On most of the tunes, the melodies develop slowly…
On other tracks, such as ‘Compromises’ which opens the set and ‘Iver’, track 6, the rhythm section shift between several musical styles, as much in the field of nu-soul and hip-hop as jazz and the piano simply embellishes these shifts with well-spaced chords that wax and wane in intensity. The opening chords on the opening track could be an introduction to a gentle nu-soul ballad, with the piano fills hinting at the phrasing in the chorus. Like several of the tunes on this set, there is the feeling that the tunes are telling intimate stories without words as much as they are revealing the landscape around the musicians. We often use the phrase ‘cinematic’ to describe music that we could imagine accompanying a movie; in the case of Arne Torvik’s tunes, perhaps, the music is telling of the journey that is at the heart of the story.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
