Vespers ECM*****

Haarla’s first CD for six years brings together the same quintet that made the superb Northbound in 2005: Mathias Eick (trumpet), Trygve Seim (tenor/soprano), Uffe Krokfors (bass), Jon Christensen (drums) and herself.

With it the great Finnish composer, harpist and pianist has, if anything, added fresh depth to the art of rubato ballad playing that is a characteristic of her music. It’s both structured and open.

The players know the territory, but use their own satnavs to traverse it with freedom, yielding vivid, uniquely moving, beautiful and multi-faceted takes on the impressionism behind such titles as A Port on a Distant Shore, Vesper, A Window Facing South, The Warm Currents of The Seaor The Shimmer of Falling Stars. In a truly great interactive group, it's invidious to single out anyone, but Seim and Christensen are by any measure extraordinary.

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