Pianist Yelena Eckemoff Reaches New Heights Working with
Norwegian Dream Team of Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen, and Tore
Brunborg on Everblue - Available August 21
"Eckemoff can exude the best of melody and harmony
in the most far-out experimental jazz." - AXS.com
"Pianist Yelena Eckemoff is refreshing. She has carved a niche for herself
with an eye constantly trained to still newer paths." - All About Jazz
When pianist Yelena Eckemoff released Cold Sun (L
& H Production, 2010) - a trio date with drumming legend Peter
Erskine and Danish bass whiz Mads Vinding - the jazz world was
introduced to a startlingly fresh voice destined for great things. Over
the course of the six albums that followed, Eckemoff lived up to that
promise, delivering organically crafted music reflective of her
classical background, fascination with the natural world, poetic soul,
communicative spirit, and overall open-mindedness. Now, Eckemoff is
poised to make even more waves with the spellbinding Everblue, her third in-studio encounter with Norwegian bass icon Arild Andersen and her first musical meeting with two other Norwegians of note - drummer Jon Christensen and saxophonist Tore Brunborg.
Those
familiar with the background of Eckemoff's musical partners will likely
be aware of their shared history, as Andersen and Christensen were both
key players in Jan Garbarek's groundbreaking musical odysseys in the
early '70s and all three men were involved in the band called
Masqualero. But none of that has to do with Eckemoff's motives for
joining forces with this Norwegian dream team. Instead, she simply
notes that she chose to work with these musicians because they "would be
the best match to interpret the ideas for the Everblue project."
The
musical affinity that exists between Eckemoff and Andersen is already
abundantly clear, having been demonstrated on two beautifully rendered
trio outings-Glass Song (L & H Production, 2013), with Peter Erskine on drums, and Lions (L & H Production, 2015), with Billy Hart on drums. On Everblue,
their rapport is deepened and broadened, as both players seem to
resonate sympathetically throughout. While Eckemoff has worked with a
number of fine bassists in the past, including Vinding and George Mraz,
her relationship with Andersen helps to take her work to another level;
it's a relationship that, she notes, plays out like "an interactive
conversation."
In summing up her reasoning for choosing to bring Christensen and Brunborg into her musical orbit on Everblue,
Eckemoff cites both players' elemental qualities: she likens
Christensen to "an ocean" and she views Brunborg as "the voice of
nature: animals, birds, winds, and ghosts." When merged with her own
"wondering and contemplative spirit" and Andersen's deeply resonating
bass work-"a bridge between all of us," according to the architect
herself-the results are mesmerizing.
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Photo Credit: Odd Geir Sæther
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With Everblue,
Eckemoff doesn't simply present a set of tunes: she presents an
overarching musical concept that guides this voyage. "Part of our human
consciousness constantly searches and yearns for the divine,
unspeakably beautiful, eternal," she notes. "In my world, I call this
place Everblue." It's a concept and a world that's plainly laid out in
her poetry and music, as everything is drawn around beaches and
oceans. And it's a concept within that concept-the search for
beauty-that informs this journey of faith and discovery.
From
the first reflective notes of the title track, it's clear that the
value of this music is in the travel. As that number unfolds, there's
prayerful saxophone work to observe, glistening sounds to admire, and
rustling percussion to behold. Thoughts of "cool sapphire light,"
"azure skies," and a "cobalt ocean"-all mentioned in the "Everblue"
poem-come through clearly in the music. With "All Things, Seen And
Unseen," Eckemoff establishes a firm presence, providing counterpoint
and communing with the musical spirits and her band mates. Here,
Christensen manages to position his cymbal work against the beat and
Andersen manages to achieve an intriguing duality that carries across
the album: he comes off as a commanding force while also managing to
exist as a wholly malleable musical entity.
Eckemoff
brings a touch of minimalism into the picture with her rolling triplets
on "Waves & Shells," a number that can be said to be "moving" in
more ways than one. Some call-and-response interaction bookends the
piece, yet it's not central to the story. More important are
Christensen's mid-track percussive serenade and Andersen's thoughts of
the moment. From there, it's off to "Skyline," a number that ebbs and
flows in organic fashion as musical voices gently lap against one
another and starry-eyed piano charms and disarms, and "Sea-Breeze," a
world built with broken eighth-note lines, cymbal gestures delivered in
the nooks between beats, bright thoughts, and strong solo work from
Eckemoff and Andersen.
"Prism"
and "Man," arriving next in the running order, both come from the
musically fertile mind of Arild Andersen. By including these pieces,
Eckemoff makes a slight departure from her previous releases: she
exhibits a high level of trust, as this marks the first time that she's
included somebody else's work on one of her jazz albums. That trust
pays off handsomely in this case. Both pieces, while originally written
for other settings, manage to sonically embody the philosophy behind
this album. "Prism" was originally recorded on The Triangle (ECM, 2004)-a trio outing that found Andersen working with pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos
and drummer John Marshall. Here, with Christensen and Brunborg,
Andersen notes, "it felt natural to do the song looser and more free in
tempo." This change in direction gives the piece a wholly different
character, as Eckemoff and company deliver a dose of abstract realism,
with lightly rippled gestures, peaceful moments of clarity, and highly
pronounced colors coming to the surface. "Man," Andersen states, "was
written for a short film some years back and I had never recorded it
before." The bassist admits that it never struck him as being a jazz
vehicle, but this band manages to shape it as such. Pockets of energy
seem to magically emerge and then recede into the distance on this
fascinating number.
The
remaining tracks, as with the aforementioned material, all highlight
the simpatico sensibilities of these players and their individual
talents. "Abyss" brings the Eckemoff-Andersen relationship into sharp
focus; "Ghost of The Dunes" penetrates, with Eckemoff's two-handed
angular work and a strong sense of connectivity between Brunborg and
Andersen on display; and "Blue Lamp" is a patient and elegant sendoff,
complete with firm yet pliant gestures. In most of those cases, and on
nearly every track on the album, Eckemoff manages to present melodically
lucid thoughts bathed in ethereal waters.
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Yelena Eckemoff Quartet - Everblue EPK
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Yelena Eckemoff · Everblue
L&H Production · Release Date: August 21, 2015
For more information on Yelena Eckemoff, please visit: yelenamusic.com
For more information on L&H Production, please visit: landhproduction.com
For media information, please contact:
DL Media · 610-667-0501
Maureen McFadden · maureen@dlmediamusic.com
Greg Angiolillo · greg@dlmediamusic.com
Don Lucoff · don@dlmediamusic.com
Serving the Finest in Jazz Since 1988
Information and press materials (including album covers, promotional photos
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