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Sol Sol: Almost All Things Considered

By Chris May
May 19, 2024
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Ever since the untimely passing of the pianist

Esbjorn Svensson

piano
1964 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Esbjorn Svensson in 2008, and the consequent diminution of his trio's radio-friendly but lightweight style, Sweden's then predominant place in Scandinavian jazz has ceded ground to Norway. So, anyway, do the results of a statistically totally invalid survey of observers in this parish suggest.

But change may be coming. In May 2024 alone two world-class Swedish albums have been released—Sol Sol's Almost All Things Considered, and

Angles

" data-original-title="" title="">Angles' jazz opera The Death Of Kalypso (Thanatosis), which is reviewed here. The discs are the latest in a steady trickle of noteworthy jazz recordings from post-pandemic Stockholm.

Sol Sol is a quartet comprising saxophonist

Elin Forkelid

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Elin Forkelid, guitarist

David Stackenäs

guitar

" data-original-title="" title="">David Stacken?s, double bassist

Mauritz Agnas

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">Mauritz Agnas and drummer

Anna Lund

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Anna Lund. Its style is open ended, taking in a little

Jimi Hendrix

guitar, electric
1942 - 1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Jimi Hendrix through Stacken?s and a little

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman through Forkelid, the group's co-leaders and co-composers.

Carla Bley

piano
1938 - 2023

" data-original-title="" title="">Carla Bley pokes her head round the corner from time to time too. Sol Sol released its first album in 2019 and followed up with What Year Is It? (Sail Cabin) in 2022. That album nailed pandemic ennui with its title and delighted with its, at times, gentle lyricism. Almost All things Considered is a case of more is more—more free jazz, more distorted guitar, more gravelly baritone sax.

The opening and closing minutes of the album's extended first track, "Elena," sound like something American outside agitators

Irreversible Entanglements

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Irreversible Entanglements might have recorded (without

Moor Mother

poet / spoken word

" data-original-title="" title="">Moor Mother on the mic). But around half of the rest of the album inhabits gentler and prettier terrain. Only the title track (check the YouTube below), with its ruff 'n' tuff baritone sax, and sections of closer "Hello Again, Paul," show traces of Forkelid's alma mater,

Mats Gustafsson

woodwinds
b.1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Gustafsson's ferocious

Fire! Orchestra

band / ensemble / orchestra

" data-original-title="" title="">Fire! Orchestra and, perhaps, her Elin Forkelid Plays For Trane quintet and its freewheeling interpretations of

John Coltrane

saxophone
1926 - 1967

" data-original-title="" title="">John Coltrane's work.

Sophisticated without being clever, varied without being all over the place, outside without being inaccessible, Almost All Things Considered is Sol Sol's best album yet.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Elena; If Not, Marbles; First Days Of Spring; Almost All Things Considered; Can I Have The Bill, Please?; Hello Again, Paul.

Personnel

Additional Instrumentation

Elin Forkelid: tenor, alto and baritone saxophones; David Stacken?s: electric guitar; Mauritz Agnas: double bass; Anna Lund: drums.

Album information

Title: Almost All Things Considered | Year Released: 2024 | Record Label: Sail Cabin Records

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