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Snik: Metasediment Rock

By John Sharpe
November 24, 2015
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The Clean Feed imprint continues to unearth new outfits from Scandinavia deserving wider appreciation. Among the latest is Snik, a predominantly Norwegian quartet which includes bassist

Ole Morten Vågan

bass, acoustic

" data-original-title="" title="">Ole Morten V?gan, best known for his tenure in saxophonist

Joshua Redman

saxophone
b.1969

" data-original-title="" title="">Joshua Redman's Trio. Completing the line up are young trombonist Kristoffer Kompen, who contributes half a dozen of the eight charts, saxophonist

Kristoffer Berre Alberts

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Kristoffer Berre Alberts, familiar from the group

Cortex

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.2011

" data-original-title="" title="">Cortex, and Swedish drummer

Erik Nylander

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Erik Nylander.

At times, the

" data-original-title="" title="">New York Contemporary Five comes to mind, as the band takes a cool approach to the '60s New Thing bag, while at others it's '50s hard bop which they evoke. They cover a wide range of bases and the inside/outside dichotomy is reflected in the compositions as well as playing. Kompen roams from effortlessly lyrical, befitting someone who has paid homage to swing era icon

Jack Teagarden

trombone
1905 - 1964

" data-original-title="" title="">Jack Teagarden, to raw and blustery, while Alberts walks the boundary between freedom and tonality, and boasts a wonderful impassioned vibrato on occasion. Vagan and Nylander mediate the frequently pacey meters with aplomb, tight and precise.

The smoothly executed arrangements make the most of band's resources. Most fascinating are the cuts where they subvert expectations. Interestingly the disc starts with one of the least conventional tracks. "niks" by bassist Vagan, has a mournful stately folk-tinged theme which blossoms out into a stew of exhalations, droney arco, cymbal scrapes. It's an intriguing opener, spacious, with the author's knotty physical bass and Alberts' controlled overblowing.

Unfortunately nothing afterwards quite delivers the same punch. However there are some unusual juxtapositions which capture the attention. "durham" sounds like a close relative of "'Round Midnight" at first blush with Kompen's obligato shadowing Alberts' alto. But then comes a pizzicato bass strum with fierce alto saxophone gales which changes the character of the piece entirely, before a return to the initial gambit. Such antics may provide fertile ground for future investigation.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Niks; H?stb?tt; Skog; Durham; Pausefisk; Knis; Sneakpeak; Lonely V?gan

Personnel

Snik

Kristoffer Kompen: trombone; Kristoffer Berre Alberts: saxophones; Ole Morten V?gan: double bass; Erik Nylander: drums.

Album information

Title: Metasediment Rock | Year Released: 2015 | Record Label: Clean Feed Records

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