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Mats Eilertsen Trio & Trio Mediaeval: Memorabilia

By Friedrich Kunzmann
August 25, 2020
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Mats Eilertsen Trio & Trio Mediaeval: Memorabilia

Talk of an album sounding highly reminiscent of something that could be released on Manfred Eicher's ECM label is quite common. But it does not come as a surprise anymore that much of today's music shares similar melancholic and minimalist contemporary leanings with the aesthetic found on the pioneering Munich-based label. However, this debut date, led between bassist

Mats Eilertsen

bass
b.1975

" data-original-title="" title="">Mats Eilertsen, his trio and Trio Mediaeval, screams ECM. Not only have both Eilertsen and the vocal trio recorded extensively with ECM, but the special fusion of seemingly liturgical music blending with modern jazz sensibilities on Memorabilia would fit in to the ECM canon perfectly, alongside other experimental classical releases such as

Maria Pia De Vito

vocals
b.1960

" data-original-title="" title="">Maria Pia De Vito's modern take on 18th century composer Giovanni Battista Pergolese's oeuvre, featuring the likes of

Anja Lechner

cello

" data-original-title="" title="">Anja Lechner.

The liturgical association is quite obvious. Between instrumental interludes and more song-oriented exercises, prayers ("Kyrie," "Sanctus," "Agnus Dei"), as typically featured within Christian masses, tie the stream of pieces together in a ritualistic way and lend the music its contemplative allure. Not that the reflective and patient interplay between Eilertsen and his trio-mates

Harmen Fraanje

piano

" data-original-title="" title="">Harmen Fraanje on piano and

Thomas Strønen

drums
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Thomas Str?nen on drums, who feature on the bassist's recent ECM outing And Then Comes The Night (2019), isn't captivating in its own right. Quiet rumblings and careful crescendos on a pedal point shared between piano and bass, as heard on "Memorabilia I," shake up the call-and-return phrasings on vocal-featuring exhibitions, while "Memorabilia II" fills time and space with a hands-off approach, and finds the trio savoring the utterly transparent sonic properties of the recording to their fullest. When the women's voices enter, the instruments take a step back, but their roles remain on a par with those of the singers. On pieces such as "Soma da du" or "Sn?fnuggene" this combination of the two trios creates powerful crescendos which live off of polyphonic vocal treatment within minimal harmonic frames. Eilertsen's last trio outing for ECM demonstrated the bassist's knack for tender melodies over friendly harmonic progressions. His sweet tooth returns throughout Memorabilia and especially so on the lovely "Memorabilia V," whose soft harmonic pace sways the ear to a cradling effect.

As the title suggests, Memorabilia works as a collection of ideas and thoughts from the past that have been bundled and bound together, to form a coherent retrospective. The gracefulness with which each musician interacts with the music's core is especially empathic and gives the nostalgia that envelopes Memorabilia the space it needs to unveil itself completely.

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Track Listing

Veni; Stillheten; Memorabilia I; Swedenborg; Kyrie; Hjertet; Memorabilia II; Sanctus; Soma Da Du; Fotografiet; Memorabilia III; Agnus Dei; Minutter; Memorabilia IV; Sn?fnuggene; Memorabilia V; Gloria.

Personnel

Mats Eilertsen

bass

Harmen Fraanje

piano

Thomas Str?nen

drums

Anna Maria Friman

vocals

Linn Andrea Fuglseth

vocals

Jorunn Lovise Husan

vocals

Trio Mediaeval

band / ensemble / orchestra

Album information

Title: Memorabilia | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: NXN Recordings

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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

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