jazz
Well, I guess this was inevitable. After reviewing and highly acclaiming several dark jazz records, the world of vintage jazz has found us. Not that I mind. Until a few years ago, I strongly disliked jazz but recently that genre has been growing on me. I'm still not wild about the whole freejazz stuff but an album like 'Atmosfärg' definitely feeds my interest. That sparks another problem. I have no idea how to describe this kind of music. Apart from Miles Davis, Toots Thielemans and Dave Brubeck I know next to nothing from jazz. Well, it seems this Saturday morning writing session is starting with a personal challenge, but that's a good thing, right?
This album was recorded live in Helsinki, Finland. It features Eevo Savela on trumpet, Tapani Varis on double bass and Alf Forsman on drums. In 48.20 minutes and eight tracks, this whole album feels like a classic jazz performance. I forgot to tell you that in the previous paragraph: I have seen a few jazz performances in my life. Being a raging metalhead at the time I didn't really pay much attention to those. All I heard was a bunch of people doing solos, all together. This record sounds a bit the same, even though the double bassist seems to behave.
My wife just told me that the secret of appreciating jazz is finding the math behind the apparent chaos of musical notes. Somebody once told her that. I'd like to know who. I'd like to have a chat with that person (unless it's an asshole). I can't seem to find the math behind these songs but I can feel the chemistry of three highly skilled musicians jamming together. There is quite often a sense of magic in playing together, especially when each participant perfectly controls his instrument. And that is absolutely the case here.
Varis builds a solid foundation, Forsman creates complex percussive structures and Savela's trumpet is allowed to meander and explore its own sound. That results in an immersive performance, something every jazz fan should be able to appreciate. For me, the whole thing tends to get too chaotic, too free-jazzy at times but there are also brilliant pieces of music to be found. So writing about this album proved to be rather difficult but finding people to recommend this one to is easy: jazz fans, you want this. I'm sure of that.
Serge
This album was recorded live in Helsinki, Finland. It features Eevo Savela on trumpet, Tapani Varis on double bass and Alf Forsman on drums. In 48.20 minutes and eight tracks, this whole album feels like a classic jazz performance. I forgot to tell you that in the previous paragraph: I have seen a few jazz performances in my life. Being a raging metalhead at the time I didn't really pay much attention to those. All I heard was a bunch of people doing solos, all together. This record sounds a bit the same, even though the double bassist seems to behave.
My wife just told me that the secret of appreciating jazz is finding the math behind the apparent chaos of musical notes. Somebody once told her that. I'd like to know who. I'd like to have a chat with that person (unless it's an asshole). I can't seem to find the math behind these songs but I can feel the chemistry of three highly skilled musicians jamming together. There is quite often a sense of magic in playing together, especially when each participant perfectly controls his instrument. And that is absolutely the case here.
Varis builds a solid foundation, Forsman creates complex percussive structures and Savela's trumpet is allowed to meander and explore its own sound. That results in an immersive performance, something every jazz fan should be able to appreciate. For me, the whole thing tends to get too chaotic, too free-jazzy at times but there are also brilliant pieces of music to be found. So writing about this album proved to be rather difficult but finding people to recommend this one to is easy: jazz fans, you want this. I'm sure of that.
Serge
