Latest releases reviewed

TRYGVE SEIM
SangamECM
*****

Composer, tenor and soprano saxophonist Seim is an alchemist of sound. Working from a jazz milieu into what might be called contemporary written and improvised music embracing Nordic and Asian folk, he has produced something uniquely beautiful. Aided by a basic nonet, which includes the extraordinary trumpeter Arve Henriksen, the equally remarkable Frode Haltli (accordion) and Håvard Lund (clarinets), Seim explores the relationship between ensemble and leading voices or "soloists" and, in the marvellous, four-part Himmelrand i Tidevand, to which a string ensemble is added, creates something spiritually close to devotional music. Elsewhere the results, while no less beautiful, remarkable and individual, may sometimes seem unresolved, but overall this work is as distinctive, in its way, as the late Gil Evans's. www.ecmrecords.com

Ray Comiskey

ARVE HENRIKSEN
Chiaroscuro  Rune Grammafon
***

Henriksen, so stunning on Seim's CD, is just as amazingly personal on his own disc. Haunting, anguished, vulnerable and all-too-human, his trumpet is complemented by his wordless singing in the countertenor range, and by Audun Kleive's drums and percussion, with live sampling by Jan Bang and the leader's own use of electronics. With Henriksen's trumpet and voice floating above an electronic wash, the performances are ethereal, stately, akin to chant, reflective of his interest in the musics of the Orient; sound and the evocation of mood is all. That, in itself, is a limitation, but the results are also beautiful - and more substantial, in their way, than those of another Scandinavian trumpeter, Nils Petter Molvaer. www.runegrammafon.com

Ray Comiskey

TANYA KALMANOVITCH
Out where the trains don't run Perspicacity
***

Having explored, with some success, a few spontaneously improvised "vignettes" on her first CD, viola player and violinist Kalmanovitch features this approach exclusively on her second release. Recorded in one day during a lengthy Canadian tour with Rick Peckham (guitar), Ronan Guilfoyle (acoustic bass guitar) and Owen Howard (drums), it's a mixed bag, with a tension, not always resolved, between the tug towards form and the exhilaration of playing "free". Subjectively, it means some pieces work better than others; there's a heightened sense of communion about the quartet's performances on Whimprov, Billet Doux, Wallop Wallop, Power City and the title track that makes them stand out from the rest. www.tanyakalmanovitch.com

Ray Comiskey