Arild Andersen

Quand le temps s’étire, quand le paysage que l’on parcourt est sans fin, c’est en cet instant, ici même, que la sérénité approche et qu’elle s’offre à nous. Lorsque le futur et le passé se confondent, là où le Nord et le Sud ne sont plus qu’un, la paix sans doute se comprend et peut enfin s’affirmer. C’est ce que nous dit à sa manière la musique du guitariste Gérard Pansanel, qui pour son dernier enregistrement, Future Early Years (label Nord/Sud ; Coadex), a réuni comme à un point de maturité maîtrisée le contrebassiste Arild Andersen et le batteur Patrice Héral. Ces trois musiciens ont trouvé ici pour leur première rencontre une sorte d’équilibre, d’écoute réciproque et partagée, mais aussi d’attention aux choses du monde, à tous les univers possibles et imaginables. L’équilibre est parfait. A chaque instant, chaque mesure. Pansanel a beaucoup voyagé.

Bassist Arild Andersen's epic Nordic folk and jazz fusion, with Nana Vasconcelos on percussion, Kirsten Brеten Berg on vocal, munnharpe, langeleik, Bendik Hofseth on tenor and soprano saxophones and guests Bugge Wesseltoft (voice) and Paolo Vinaccia (percussion). It's austere, sparse beauty offers a haunting sound, and gives Braten Berg an perfect platform for her voice. The moods shift constantly from cool Nordic jazz to warm Brazilian rhythms, then overlaps them in something completely original and yet somehow welcoming and familiar. Recorded in 1993, this was his final recording for KKV before moving into the ECM stable.

Arild Andersen's trio emphasises the writing and playing of Greek pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos, whose melodic improvising and sense of form are influenced by his background as a classical musician. Tsabropoulos's tunes, and his arrangement of Ravel here, cast the jazz ‘piano trio’ genre in another light - as do his contributions to Andersen’s pieces and the collective improvisation “European Triangle". Arild Andersen's driving bass and John Marshall's inventive drums give the music its sense of propulsion.

Norwegian bassist Andersen's reputation in Europe over the decades is well established. He has appeared on a number of significant recordings, most notably Jan Garbarek's SAGN, and with his own iconoclastic ensemble Masqualero. IF YOU LOOK FAR ENOUGH distills those past endeavors into a most atmospheric, spacious outing. The more traditional elements of Andersen's heritage meet face-to-face with a profoundly European free-jazz sensibility.

Bassist Arild Andersen may not be one of ECM's best-known bandleaders (to Americans, that is), but that hasn't stopped him from amassing an impressive catalog as one of the label's senior statesmen. Andersen himself comments in the liner notes at how fortunate and surprised he was when looking back over his catalog and realizing how many younger players graced his sides. The evidence, however, is that Andersen is too humble: his guidance is like a beacon in bringing the best out of many who would become leaders in their own right. A fine example is on "Vanilje," which opens the album and comes from the Masqualero album. Here Andersen, Jon Balke, and drummer Jon Christensen host two stunning players on the front line, young saxophonist Tore Brunborg and a fresh-faced Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet.

Bassist Arild Andersen shines as the principal soloist in a celebration of music from ECM with specially-commissioned new big-band arrangements of well-known pieces by Dave Holland, Chick Corea, Trygve Seim, Jan Garbarek, and Keith Jarrett. The resourceful Tommy Smith adds powerful tenor solos, arranges Garbarek’s “Molde Canticle”, and directs the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra. Andersen’s composition “Independency” is a 16-minute highlight, in a sensitive and powerful arrangement by Mike Gibbs. Other contributing arrangers are Makoto Ozone, Christian Jacob, Geoff Keezer and Trygve Seim/Øyvind Bræke: all of them contribute sterling work, and their arrangements are likely to enter modern jazz’s big band repertory book. Recorded live at Glasgow’s Royal Conservatory, “Celebration” is a highly attractive album for a broad listenership, and as a statement about music introduced by ECM will be of special interest to long-time followers of the label.

Sagn was the result of a commission for the 1990 Vossajazz festival that sealed the collaborative spirits of singer Kirsten Bråten Berg and bassist Arild Andersen. Blending folk songs from their native Norway, along with jazz and rock elements, the two shared the stage with percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, saxophonist Bendik Hofseth, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, and guitarist Frode Alnæs. While we don’t have (so far as I’m aware) a live recording of what was surely an historic occasion, we do have this ECM studio rendition, buffed and polished to a mirror’s shine. Sagn is a massive effort, one of ECM’s fullest on a single disc, and stands as Andersen’s most personal statement to date.

Arild Andersen's Hyperborean is based on an Ancient Greek legend: according to the myth, the Hyperboreans lived beyond the north winds, where the sun god Apollo presided. Andersen has created an impressive song cycle that draws from contemporary instrumental, European jazz, jazz-rock and the distinctive ECM production sound. Andersen's playing is typically tasteful and the compositions are unpredictable and evocative, making Hyperborean another worthy addition to his catalog.