Mats Eilersten

This record is a result of a collaboration that toured in Norway in 2012. Recorded in Rainbow Studio in Oslo. The constellation performed music in the mix of traditional folk, jazz and contemporary music. The first record with this band, The Nature of Connections, was released on Rune Grammofon in 2014 and presented only the acoustic orchestration. The music on this release contains sounds and ornaments from traditional Norwegian folk music, contemporary music, improvisation and field recorded sounds. This time the focus has been the combination of electronic sounds and the acoustic palette and how to merge this into a unique orchestration.

There have been countless attempts to counteract the inherently boring nature of the CD as an artefact and the approach adopted by Feral shapes up better than some on the strength of this first release, which takes some excellent music by saxophonist Iain Ballamy (in the company of three young Norwegian musicians) and packages it with a set of intriguing print artworks by Dave McKean in an elegant library case. On the other hand, we may now be so accustomed to the blandness of the format that any attempt to escape it seems like a distraction. While debating this, it's important not to forget to play the disc, which is quite remarkable and a far cry from Ballamy's formative years in the sprawling bloke-jazz outfit Loose Tubes. Recorded live at the Molde Jazz Festival in 1998, it's astounding that this music seems to date from the very beginning of Ballamy's association with these musicians, given their obvious level of empathy.

Memorabilia was written in 2016 followed by a premiere at JazzFest in Trondheim. The music is written by jazz bassist and composer Mats Eilertsen and performed by two trios: Mats Eilertsen Trio (Harmen Fraanje, piano: Thomas Strønen, drums and Mats Eilertsen, bass), and the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval (the acclaimed trio of Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Jorunn Lovise Husan), both known for numerous recordings for ECM.

After making vital contributions to the ECM collaborations of Lena Willemark and Ale Moller, Swedish multi-instrumentalist and composer Mats Eden brings his folk revival sensibilities to this leader date from 1999. He joins longtime musical partner Jonas Simonson in paying homage to many great fiddlers, including Artbergs Kalle Karlstrom and Lejsme Per Larsson, and old-time masters Torleiv Bjorgum and Anders Rosen. The latter revived the use resonating strings, which Eden took on himself in developing a custom instrument called the bordunfiol, or drone-fiddle, featured prominently in Milvus.

Taking its title from the Scandinavian culinary terminology for a variety of delicacies, surely there has never been a more fascinating and evocative collection of short pieces recorded onto one disc? Personally chosen by the performers (with fascinating insights presented in Lidström's accompanying booklet, both historical and intimate), these musical jewels from around the world are firmly and deservedly ensconced in the hearts of these two engaging musicians, resulting in a magical discovery of pure indulgence for the privileged listener. One could not readily expect to find a more satisfying assembly of beautifully written and stunningly played works.