KJETIL MULELID TRIO -What You Thought Was Home
Rune Grammofon: RCD2208
Kjetil Mulelid: piano; Bjorn Marius Hegge: double bass; Andreas Skar Winther: drums
Recorded November 15th and 16th 2018 by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound, Halden
This set was released last year but I have recently come across it and love it. I thoroughly enjoyed this trio’s ‘Not nearly enough to buy a house’ set and this is even stronger and more assured. There is, also, a pleasant family resemblance, with the artwork of Kim Hiorthoy creating beguiling images for the sleeves of both albums, and the developing familiarity of the trio.
Mulelid’s playing has the cerebral quality of someone who delights in classical piano; it comes as no surprise that he was inspired to learn piano as a boy after listening to recordings of Chopin, and the trills and runs that decorate ‘Far away’, track 5, hark back to his pleasure in this music. But Mulelid also has a resolute swing to his playing, finding ways to bend and warp notes and timing to slip across bars and beats. I felt that the chords in ‘Tales’ (track 4) had an affinity to those used by Radiohead in ‘Everything in its right place’, so perhaps there is an equal inspiration drawn from contemporary musical forms. Titles like ‘folk song’ (track 2) or ‘wedding march’ (track 3, composed by Hegge) suggest also music steeped in traditional Norwegian music. This is especially apparent in the ways in which bass and drums define their roles. As a trio, the piano has a central role, but the rhythm section finds their own subtle ways in carrying tunes that engage in conversation with Mulelid’s lyricism.
It is astonishing to think that the average age of this players here is only around 30 – they seem to have the sensibility and maturity of people who have been on the scene for years. Having said, this is a trio of musicians with several side-projects, so they are most likely to be continually making music. Perhaps this explains the title of track 6 ‘a cautionary tale against a repetitive life’. This is a beautifully assured set of tunes, played by a trio that has the easy familiarity of the most respected in jazz’s history.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Rune Grammofon: RCD2208
Kjetil Mulelid: piano; Bjorn Marius Hegge: double bass; Andreas Skar Winther: drums
Recorded November 15th and 16th 2018 by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound, Halden
This set was released last year but I have recently come across it and love it. I thoroughly enjoyed this trio’s ‘Not nearly enough to buy a house’ set and this is even stronger and more assured. There is, also, a pleasant family resemblance, with the artwork of Kim Hiorthoy creating beguiling images for the sleeves of both albums, and the developing familiarity of the trio.
Mulelid’s playing has the cerebral quality of someone who delights in classical piano; it comes as no surprise that he was inspired to learn piano as a boy after listening to recordings of Chopin, and the trills and runs that decorate ‘Far away’, track 5, hark back to his pleasure in this music. But Mulelid also has a resolute swing to his playing, finding ways to bend and warp notes and timing to slip across bars and beats. I felt that the chords in ‘Tales’ (track 4) had an affinity to those used by Radiohead in ‘Everything in its right place’, so perhaps there is an equal inspiration drawn from contemporary musical forms. Titles like ‘folk song’ (track 2) or ‘wedding march’ (track 3, composed by Hegge) suggest also music steeped in traditional Norwegian music. This is especially apparent in the ways in which bass and drums define their roles. As a trio, the piano has a central role, but the rhythm section finds their own subtle ways in carrying tunes that engage in conversation with Mulelid’s lyricism.
It is astonishing to think that the average age of this players here is only around 30 – they seem to have the sensibility and maturity of people who have been on the scene for years. Having said, this is a trio of musicians with several side-projects, so they are most likely to be continually making music. Perhaps this explains the title of track 6 ‘a cautionary tale against a repetitive life’. This is a beautifully assured set of tunes, played by a trio that has the easy familiarity of the most respected in jazz’s history.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
