Description
A fresh and open music, delicate and space-conscious, is shaped as drummer Thomas Stronen and Ayumi Tanaka, previously heard in the ensemble Time Is A Blind Guide on 'Lucus', resurface in a new trio with clarinettist/singer/percussionist Marthe Lea.
The group first came together at Oslo's Royal Academy of Music, where for two years the players would meet each week for exploratory music making. Stronen: "We always played freely- drifting between elements of contemporary classical music, folk music, jazz, whatever we were inspired by. Sometimes the music was very quiet and minimalistic: playing together generated some special experiences."
The spontaneous spirit of the music is reflected in the trio's debut recording, which was made at the Lugano radio studio and produced by Manfred Eicher. With the exception of the title piece, based on a traditional Norwegian tune, the music on Bayou was collectively created in the moment.
Ayumi Tanaka: piano
Marthe Lea: clarinet, vocals, percussion
Thomas Strønen: drums, percussion
Press:
"Across the pieces, each sound that the musicians produce is freighted with meaning and there is a compulsion to completely immerse oneself in this, often straining to hear the fading notes rather like the effort after sounds of the musicians. It is fitting that the set closes with Lea's wordless singing, echoing like a song of the sirens that beguiled Odysseus until it fades into the echo of an echo. And in this way, the listener is enveloped by the beauty of the music here." - Jazz Views
"Bayou sets out to paint a different picture - more intimate, more meditative. As with any free improv there's a good deal of searching as well as moments of revelation, but do stick with it." - LondonJazzNews
