The debut album by German jazz guitarist
Arne Jansen is recorded in the traditional power trio format, with the assertive bassist Eva Kruse and powerhouse drummer Eric Schaefer jockeying for position behind
Jansen's leads. There's only occasional rock influences on
My Tree, however, as on the moody, Schaefer-driven tune "Cielo Argento." Mostly, the album is in the northern European modern jazz tradition, with passages of free improvisation sitting comfortably within otherwise straightforward tunes. Despite the sonic differences due to the different instrumental lineup, fans of the Swedish neo-free jazz piano trio E.S.T. or their lesser American equivalent,
the Bad Plus, will find
My Tree conceptually similar, right down to
Jansen's puckish cover of
Pearl Jam's "Release" as the closing track. ~ Stewart Mason