Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Alex Jonsson 3: The Lost Moose

Alex Jonsson 3: The Lost Moose

By Eyal Hareuveni
June 12, 2013
View read count

Danish guitarist Alex J?nsson—currently resides in Gothenburg, Sweden— recently graduated from the acclaimed Danish Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, but already has a defined and focused aesthetics on his first release as a leader. J?nsson, together with reed player Lars Greve and drummer Christian Windfeld, has managed to create a recording of immediate, light and highly melodic songs, all embodying a reserved Nordic melancholy and thoughtfulness.

These songs border on a pop songs sensibility, and it is no surprise considering J?nsson's central role in the vocal post-pop group Foyn Trio, which released one album, Joy visible (Finito Bacalao Records, 2011). Still, J?nsson's familiarity with that spirit of emotional longing and restlessness—after relocating to Norway, Sweden and Finland for his musical studies—only serves to add a deeper dimension to these songs.

The opening, title track sets the spirit for the album. J?nsson draws spare, skeletal lines with great reserve, Windfeld adds percussive colors and ornamentation, and Greve solidifies the melodic content. The emphatic, supportive interplay between the three musicians serves the trio beautifully. Occasionally Greve takes the lead, but he continues to parallel J?nsson's lines, never challenging the material's light, melodic envelope.

Only on the 19 seconds of "Twelve Is a Blues"—which sounds like an exercise in saxophonist

Ornette Coleman

saxophone, alto
1930 - 2015

" data-original-title="" title="">Ornette Coleman's harmolodics—does the trio dares more. On the latter part of the album, "Apple Pie" and "Nes?ya"—with Greve in a more searching mood—digress from its largely disciplined, melodic vein. J?nsson also displays interest in more abstract texture on the brief "Afraid of Heights."

A promising debut from a young trio that already has a voice of its own.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

The Lost Moose; Ni?ar��ss; A Day in Bleik; Twelve Is a Blues; Who Are You to Judge?; Apple Pie; Nes?ya; Afraid of Heights; Out of Aspirin; N?kemiin.

Personnel

Alex J?nsson

guitar

Alex J?nsson: guitar; Lars Greve: clarinets, saxophone; Christian Windfeld: drums.

Album information

Title: The Lost Moose | Year Released: 2013 | Record Label: Self Produced

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Cyrus Chestnut Trio + Stefon Harris:...
< Previous

The Listener
Next >

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.