Having spent decades in the Scandinavian jazz scene, sax player
Karl Seglem kicked off his 25th year of recording by enlisting
the Eple Trio, a group of younger artists, to maneuver into a form of jazz that's simultaneously modern and timeless. The approach is a careful one, intricate in its relative sparseness. The album opens in fine form, with a bit of sax wandering that displays the richness of
Seglem's tone in "Portugalsong." The band stays fairly quiet here. With "Nattsong," the tone moves toward a cleaner, more standardized format, prompting possible comparisons with
Kenny G's sound, but not quite approaching the same level of pop. By the time the album moves to "Song For To," the driving bass of Sigurd Hole has moved to the forefront temporarily, using an insistent depth in combination with sparse piano accompaniment to set a backing palette that's both earthy and light at the same time.
Seglem continues to work the sax over its range, sometimes alone and sometimes in parallel with Andreas Ulvo's piano. The energy kicks up a bit, ironically enough, in "Lull," and the album finishes up with a more tender form in "Sein Song." Throughout the set, the compositions (mostly originals from
Seglem) are less interesting than the tone of
Seglem's playing itself. He never moves into massive flights of fancy, nor do his bandmates (though Ulvo edges toward a few arpeggios). Instead, he wrings every last bit of richness out of his instrument, making the sound sweet, earthy, and intense all at once. It's a fine album not just for a look at Scandinavian jazz, but really for a look at an excellent player of a classic instrument in its proper acoustic setting. ~ Adam Greenberg