Though
Gefion is
Jakob Bro's debut as a leader for ECM, the guitarist is a seasoned veteran in the recording studio. The Danish guitarist has been releasing under his own name for the Loveland label since 2003. He has also recorded on ECM before, first as a member of
Paul Motian's band for 2006's
Garden of Eden (the great drummer later returned the favor on one of
Bro's records), and as part of
Tomasz Stanko's group for 2009's
Dark Eyes. Bassist
Thomas Morgan has played on a couple of the guitarist's recordings over the past six years and appeared on
Stanko's 2013 date
Wislawa.
Jon Christensen, the veteran drummer whose free-floating, whispering restraint has made him iconic, played with
Stanko in the latter years of the 20th century. The trio has been playing together since 2012. For those unfamiliar with
Bro, the influence of
Bill Frisell (who appeared on his 2013 set December Song along with
Lee Konitz,
Morgan, and
Craig Taborn) is unmistakable. A pristine, atmospheric, lyrical, warm tone, elegant use of reverb, and a reluctance to play anything "extra" are all
Frisell hallmarks. That said,
Bro's playing is also decidedly European. Melodic frames are suggestions for explorations and he seldom takes them head on. Here it is
Morgan who plays both a lyric center as well as a more insistent -- yet still sparse -- harmonic foil. Listen to the long, quietly unfolding title track for evidence. Add to this
Christensen's unhurried, texturally contrasting cymbal work, which never centers but moves behind and in front of "the beat" to underscore the interactions between his partners and extend them with his own sense of lyricism. "And They All Came Marching Out of the Woods" reveals the most active interaction between these players. Led off by
Morgan playing a set line,
Bro moves front and center with one- and two-line articulations as
Christensen slips through his lines with a wash of cymbals, adding tom-toms and even occasional force on the snare. The ideas on display here offer a portrait of the kind of direct harmonic engagement this trio can get up to. "Lyskaster" is completely solo, a haunting, sparse, whispering of resonance and suggestion. "Oktober" is actually a waltz, the slip of a single-note bassline accenting
Bro's reverbed and digitally delayed intention of melody, moving chorus after chorus until
Morgan begins to play chord lines and
Christensen's darkly tinged cymbal bells point outward to something in the fringes that is implied rather than asserted.
Morgan solos briefly near the end with a hint of a "song," but it fades before that occurs. That it never quite emerges underscores the beauty in the trio's exploration of the ambiguous rather than in direct utterance.
Gefion is quiet; it never insists. The listeners' attention can be focused on the intersection of sounds and spaces because what emerges in the end is remarkable for all of its deliberate restraint. ~ Thom Jurek