LITTLE NORTH - Finding Seagulls
April Records
Benjamin Norholm Jacobsen (Piano), Martin Brunbjerg Rasmussen (bass), Lasse Jacobsen (drums), Guest Artist, Anna Rebekka Ross (cello)
Little North is a piano led trio from Denmark with an album of ten original compositions keeping up the fine tradition of high quality Nordic contemporary jazz. Recorded at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Studio 3 Copenhagen this is their fourth album release since 2016. The band members who met while studying at a conservatoire in Southern Denmark, are unashamedly minimalistic in approach with an air of nostalgia and reflection in their compositions, which they are able to skilfully transpose into the modern era. Already very popular in their own country, they have also released four singles and were awarded second place in a national competition to unearth young jazz talent.
There are some profound and beautiful melodies throughout this album which shows, substance, class and in places becomes almost spiritual. The scene is set well by the brief solo piano opener Two and Three that epitomises the elements of time and space that follow. The recording does not excite, it neither needs to or is intended to, because it digs very much deeper into the listening experience in a way that the music of Keith Jarrett for instance often does. One of the longer tracks And Daughter is a good example with its bowed bass introduction juxtaposed with the lightness and delicacy of the piano melody supported by some excellent brushwork that all together produce both an ethereal and atmospheric musical landscape. The only time that the total calmness of the proceedings are slightly interrupted is by the more percussive and upbeat piece, The Kite that has recently been released as a single. In contrast the introduction of the cello on the pensive Anna adds an extra warmth and breadth to the overall sound of the band. There is without doubt great potential with these young players, who are already performing at a very high level and are perhaps signalling a path into the future with their performance on the excellent composition Freyu which carries not only a masterclass in the art of inventive drumming and group interplay but also flirts on the edges of free form and the avant-garde. One thing is for certain, there is a lot more to come from this excellent young trio.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
April Records
Benjamin Norholm Jacobsen (Piano), Martin Brunbjerg Rasmussen (bass), Lasse Jacobsen (drums), Guest Artist, Anna Rebekka Ross (cello)
Little North is a piano led trio from Denmark with an album of ten original compositions keeping up the fine tradition of high quality Nordic contemporary jazz. Recorded at The Royal Danish Academy of Music, Studio 3 Copenhagen this is their fourth album release since 2016. The band members who met while studying at a conservatoire in Southern Denmark, are unashamedly minimalistic in approach with an air of nostalgia and reflection in their compositions, which they are able to skilfully transpose into the modern era. Already very popular in their own country, they have also released four singles and were awarded second place in a national competition to unearth young jazz talent.
There are some profound and beautiful melodies throughout this album which shows, substance, class and in places becomes almost spiritual. The scene is set well by the brief solo piano opener Two and Three that epitomises the elements of time and space that follow. The recording does not excite, it neither needs to or is intended to, because it digs very much deeper into the listening experience in a way that the music of Keith Jarrett for instance often does. One of the longer tracks And Daughter is a good example with its bowed bass introduction juxtaposed with the lightness and delicacy of the piano melody supported by some excellent brushwork that all together produce both an ethereal and atmospheric musical landscape. The only time that the total calmness of the proceedings are slightly interrupted is by the more percussive and upbeat piece, The Kite that has recently been released as a single. In contrast the introduction of the cello on the pensive Anna adds an extra warmth and breadth to the overall sound of the band. There is without doubt great potential with these young players, who are already performing at a very high level and are perhaps signalling a path into the future with their performance on the excellent composition Freyu which carries not only a masterclass in the art of inventive drumming and group interplay but also flirts on the edges of free form and the avant-garde. One thing is for certain, there is a lot more to come from this excellent young trio.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
