Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Mats Eilertsen Trio: Elegy

Mats Eilertsen Trio: Elegy

By John Kelman
November 7, 2010
View read count

He's best-known internationally for his work on ECM recordings by artists including guitarist

Jacob Young

guitar
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Jacob Young, pianist

Wolfert Brederode

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Wolfert Brederode, and, most recently, pianist

" data-original-title="" title="">Tord Gustavsen, with whom he's been touring in support of Restored, Returned (2010). But while these associations might suggest a bassist disposed to gentler forms and understated freedom, they're only two of Mats Eilertsen's many sides. A busy bassist in his native Norway, Eilertsen's broader reach can be heard on singer/songwriter Solveig Slettahjell's Tarpan Seasons (Universal, 2010), Hardanger fiddler

Nils Okland

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Nils Okland's Bris (Rune Grammofon, 2005), the sonic extremes of Crimetime Orchestra at Molde Jazz 2009 , and the subdued spontaneity of

The Source

" data-original-title="" title="">The Source on its 2006 self-titled ECM set.

Left to his own devices, and with a gradually growing discography as a leader, Eilertsen does lean towards a softer, and sometimes darker approach, with the flexible approach to time that's near-signature to Norwegian improvised music. Elegy is the bassist's first with a conventional piano trio, though it's far from the tradition; the trio's take on trumpeter

Miles Davis

trumpet
1926 - 1991

" data-original-title="" title="">Miles Davis' enduring "Nardis" filters its familiar theme through a particularly dense prism—

Thelonious Monk

piano
1917 - 1982

" data-original-title="" title="">Thelonious Monk-like in its quirky mannerisms as opposed to the romanticism associated with {Bill Evans, the pianist most closely associated with the tune. But Monk wouldn't have approached it with the kind of temporal elasticity that Eilertsen, drummer Thomas Str?nen manage with such effortless fluidity.

Eliertsen's choice of pianists for this set, largely composed of original material and spontaneous composition, features Harmen Fraanje, an up-and-coming Dutchman who, in addition to being a member of

Eric Vloeimans

trumpet

" data-original-title="" title="">Eric Vloeimans' Fugimundi trio, has released three albums of his own, most recently Avalonia (Challenge, 2010). A good fit for this trio—comfortably blending European classicism with jazz's linguistic specificity, Fraange's "Six Weeks" is a stunning piece of dark melodism, juxtaposed with waves of paradoxically rounded angularity; a three-way conversation with Eilertsen, who blends robust, woody tone with flighty leaps into the upper register, and Str?nen, who suggests time more often than playing it, coloring the music with dark, weighty cymbals and delicate movements around the kit.

Eilertsen's material ranges from the tender, folkloric "Sukha" whose song-like lyricism, rests somewhere between the late

Esbjorn Svensson

piano
1964 - 2008

" data-original-title="" title="">Esbjorn Svensson's pop-centricity and Gustaven's mid-tempo minimalism, and "Kram," which leans more towards the greater extroversion of "Nardis," but with an underlying thematic emphasis. The trio's free improvisations are equally impressive, from the brief, quarter-note piano chord-driven title track, a feature for Eilertsen's arco, to the strummed bass figure of "Flying"—Fraanje's ebbing-and-flowing waves evoking images of birds in flight—and the more jagged but equally cinematic "Falling."

Throughout, Eilertsen ensures complete democracy, distanced from a convention where piano is supported by a rhythm section of bass and drums. There's no lack of support to be found on Elegy, but it's a mutual thing—pulse as likely to come from Fraanje supporting Str?nen's open-minded excursion as it is the other way around. Eilertsen anchors the bottom when needed, but is, more often than not, a melodic foil in this equilaterally designed and, consequently, open-minded trio.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Drumba; Elegy; Sukha; Kram; Flying; Falling; Tuven, Tuven; Nardis; Six weeks; Floating.

Personnel

Mats Eilertsen

bass

Harmen Fraanje: piano; Thomas Str?nen: drums; Mats Eilertsen: bass.

Album information

Title: Elegy | Year Released: 2010 | Record Label: Hubro Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Tampere Jazz Happening 2010: Day 2, ...
< Previous

The New Paquito D'Rivera
Next >

Mats Eilertsen Concerts

Oct 26 Sun

Conservatorio di Milano – Sala Giuseppe Verdi

Conservatorio Di Musica Giuseppe Verdi
Milano, Italy

Nov 2 Sun

National Concert Hall

National Concert Hall
Dublin, Ireland

Nov 6 Thu

Koninklijke Schouwburg

Koninklijke Schouwburg
Den Haag, Netherlands

Nov 8 Sat

Christuskirche Mannheim

Christuskirche Mannheim
Mannheim, Germany

Nov 15 Sat

Bulgaria Concert Hall

��ѧݧ� "��ݧԧѧ�ڧ�" / Bulgaria Hall
Sofia, Bulgaria

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.