BÉVORT 3- Live 2020-2021
BévortCD06
Pernille Bévort: tenor and soprano saxophone; Morten Ankarfeldt: bass; Espen Laub von Lillienskjold: drums
Recorded December 2020 by Ole Herltott and Troels Bech Jessen live at jazz Club Montmatre, Copenhagen and July 2021 at Skuespilhusets Foyer, Copenhagen.
One of the many pleasures in reviewing the wide range of CDs I am sent by JazzViews is the discovery of an artist that has for some reason been previously unknown to me. Over the past few years, Pernille Bévort has moved out of the large ensembles in which she has forged a formidable reputation over the past three decades and formed her own trio. The ‘On Fire’ album from last year ago was well received around the world and this combination of tracks from two live sets will cement her reputation, and that of this trio, further. The music has the looseness and invention of live improvisation but the trio play with a focus and tightness that gives rhythmic and melodic tautness to the playing. Each of Bévort’s compositions on display her combine a broad appreciation of jazz (the timing of the hook in the opening track ‘Who’s got it’ has, for me an echo of ‘Watermelon Man’, even if the tune here moves in entirely different directions).
Bévort effortlessly invents the tunes as she plays them, cajoling bass and drums into ever more complicated responses and her playing is perfectly matched with her choice of a skilful rhythm section who are exactly on the same page musically as her. Ankarfeldt’s bass playing is continually seeking riffs that shift effortlessly from the experimental to the danceable, and Lillienskjold’s drum patterns neatly veer between the experimentalism of the sax runs and the immediacy of the bass lines while never losing the twists and turns of the beat.
This is free jazz that will appeal to anyone who like music; even those who think that they are afraid of the wilder edges of the genre. This is because each player seeks a balance between the improvised and the immediate, capturing and maintaining the listeners attention with a continually fresh supply of hooks to draw in the listener and a continually switch in tempo to maintain interest and enthusiasm. In all, a masterclass in how to make the most of the sax trio format.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
BévortCD06
Pernille Bévort: tenor and soprano saxophone; Morten Ankarfeldt: bass; Espen Laub von Lillienskjold: drums
Recorded December 2020 by Ole Herltott and Troels Bech Jessen live at jazz Club Montmatre, Copenhagen and July 2021 at Skuespilhusets Foyer, Copenhagen.
One of the many pleasures in reviewing the wide range of CDs I am sent by JazzViews is the discovery of an artist that has for some reason been previously unknown to me. Over the past few years, Pernille Bévort has moved out of the large ensembles in which she has forged a formidable reputation over the past three decades and formed her own trio. The ‘On Fire’ album from last year ago was well received around the world and this combination of tracks from two live sets will cement her reputation, and that of this trio, further. The music has the looseness and invention of live improvisation but the trio play with a focus and tightness that gives rhythmic and melodic tautness to the playing. Each of Bévort’s compositions on display her combine a broad appreciation of jazz (the timing of the hook in the opening track ‘Who’s got it’ has, for me an echo of ‘Watermelon Man’, even if the tune here moves in entirely different directions).
Bévort effortlessly invents the tunes as she plays them, cajoling bass and drums into ever more complicated responses and her playing is perfectly matched with her choice of a skilful rhythm section who are exactly on the same page musically as her. Ankarfeldt’s bass playing is continually seeking riffs that shift effortlessly from the experimental to the danceable, and Lillienskjold’s drum patterns neatly veer between the experimentalism of the sax runs and the immediacy of the bass lines while never losing the twists and turns of the beat.
This is free jazz that will appeal to anyone who like music; even those who think that they are afraid of the wilder edges of the genre. This is because each player seeks a balance between the improvised and the immediate, capturing and maintaining the listeners attention with a continually fresh supply of hooks to draw in the listener and a continually switch in tempo to maintain interest and enthusiasm. In all, a masterclass in how to make the most of the sax trio format.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
