The 2010
ECM album
Purcor - Songs for Saxophone and Piano features tenor/soprano saxophonist
Trygve Seim and pianist
Andreas Utnem dueting on various original and traditional compositions. Although this is the first time the two musicians have recorded together, their partnership extends back to the mid-'90s when
Utnem, working with Norway's Church City Mission foundation, invited
Seim to perform with him at several church services. Choosing from a mix of liturgical compositions for mass and some original pieces,
Utnem then played in his own classical- and jazz-based style while
Seim improvised around him. The result, as heard on this album, is a kind of hybrid of classical, jazz, and folk styles fits nicely into the softly introspective, and cerebral
ECM approach. While this album is not jazz in the strict, swinging, improvisational sense,
Seim's fluid approach does flirt with avant-garde contemporary improvisation here, and the overall sense is one of intimate, searching discovery even during the album's most meditative and hymn-like moments. Recorded at an Oslo church in 2008, the album seems to be loosely inspired by Catholic mass with songs like
Seim's "Responsorium,"
Utnem's "Credo," and the duo's bright and rambling "Gloria, Improvisation" directly referencing such Catholic traditions as ceremonial readings of holy scripture and the "Apostle's Creed." Elsewhere, they explore several folk tunes including the Norwegian song "Solrenning" with
Utnem playing the harmonium. There is also a reworking of
Seim's "Bhavana" from his 2001
ECM debut Different Rivers. These performances, from the opening "Kyrie" onward, are beautifully rendered, softly melodic, and ruminative ones that find
Seim and
Utnem perfectly attuned to each other. ~ Matt Collar