PER MATHISEN - Sounds Of 3 - Edition 2
Losen: LOS213-2
Per Mathisen: bass; Ulf Wakenius: guitar; Gary Husband: drums
Recorded January 28th and 29th 2019 by Hans Andreas Horntveth Jahnsen at Propeller Studio, Oslo.
Edition 1 of what might develop into a series of ‘sounds of 3’ featured a Cuban drummer and a Norwegian guitarist. Edition 2 features an English drummer and Swedish guitarist. While the two sets have the unique voices of their individual musicians, Mathisen continues to explore a contemporary version of jazz-funk across these editions (and his other recordings). This doesn’t mean that all the songs are wild foot-stompers (although he’s particularly good at these). The band also turn their hand to some delicately phrased ballads, like Mike Stern’s ‘What might have been’ (track 8) and Sting’s ‘Wrapped around your finger’ (track 6). The latter is particularly intriguing for the way in which Mathisen plays the main theme on fretless bass, and the former features a melancholy fretless bass solo. Across all of these tunes you have a marvellous showcase of the variety of Mathisen’s bass playing, which would be worth the CD alone. Even more fortunate is the fact that Husband is at the peak of powers here, telepathically reading the shifts in mood and tempo in the tunes and providing an intelligent counterpoint to the tunes and the rhythms. Wakenius has a rich repertoire of guitar styles from pulsating rock (like his shredding on the closing track ‘Alphabet soup’) to very delicate ballads (like on ‘What might have been’) to bouncing bop guitar lines (like on ‘Lines for Oscar’, track 5). Throughout the set, the trio play with such exuberance and enthusiasm that you think you’re listening to a live set.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Losen: LOS213-2
Per Mathisen: bass; Ulf Wakenius: guitar; Gary Husband: drums
Recorded January 28th and 29th 2019 by Hans Andreas Horntveth Jahnsen at Propeller Studio, Oslo.
Edition 1 of what might develop into a series of ‘sounds of 3’ featured a Cuban drummer and a Norwegian guitarist. Edition 2 features an English drummer and Swedish guitarist. While the two sets have the unique voices of their individual musicians, Mathisen continues to explore a contemporary version of jazz-funk across these editions (and his other recordings). This doesn’t mean that all the songs are wild foot-stompers (although he’s particularly good at these). The band also turn their hand to some delicately phrased ballads, like Mike Stern’s ‘What might have been’ (track 8) and Sting’s ‘Wrapped around your finger’ (track 6). The latter is particularly intriguing for the way in which Mathisen plays the main theme on fretless bass, and the former features a melancholy fretless bass solo. Across all of these tunes you have a marvellous showcase of the variety of Mathisen’s bass playing, which would be worth the CD alone. Even more fortunate is the fact that Husband is at the peak of powers here, telepathically reading the shifts in mood and tempo in the tunes and providing an intelligent counterpoint to the tunes and the rhythms. Wakenius has a rich repertoire of guitar styles from pulsating rock (like his shredding on the closing track ‘Alphabet soup’) to very delicate ballads (like on ‘What might have been’) to bouncing bop guitar lines (like on ‘Lines for Oscar’, track 5). Throughout the set, the trio play with such exuberance and enthusiasm that you think you’re listening to a live set.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
