Arve Henriksen: The Heights of the Reeds [Vinyl 1LP]

Modern Jazz / Indie Jazz
premiera polska: 2019-03-10
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Norwegia
opakowanie: Singlefoldowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * *:
Lider Supersilent - jednego z czołowych zespołów ambient jazzu, który wykształcił własny unikalny styl oparty o inspiracje jazzem, ambientem i muzyką elektroakustyczną, członek grupy Food, od długiego czasu wydaje także płyty pod własnym nazwiskiem w oficynach Rune Grammofon, ECM i Hubro.

Po wydaniu doskonale ocenianej płyty "Towards Language" (Rune Grammofon 2017), w katalogu norweskiej oficyny ukazuje się nowa płyta zatytułowana "The Heights of the Reeds". Autorami całości materiału na płytę są Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset i Jan Bang. Marynistyczny ambient jazz, tak można by w stanie nazewniczego natręctwa nazwać tę płytę. Bowiem płyta to efekt zamówienia, jakie brytyjskie miasto Hull, złożyło norweskiemu trębaczowi. Chodziło o podkreślenie wyjątkowych więzi, jakie łączą angielskie wybrzeże ze Skandynawią, wielowiekowe szlaki żeglugowe między Hull a Skandynawią znalazły w ten sposób swój muzyczny kontekst.

Muzyka Henriksena i kolegów, z którymi współpracuje od dawna urzeka melancholijnym nastrojem i szczegółowo dopracowanym brzmieniem. Charakterystyczna trąbka lidera, bliska brzmieniu japońskiego fletu shakhuhachi, noirowa elektronika Jana Banga, gitarowe ambientowe plamy dźwięku generowane przez Elvinda Aarseta, wszystko to składa się na skąpaną w brzmieniowych światłocieniach odę do dzikiej, nieprzewidywalnej morskiej rzeczywistości.
autor: Witek Leśniak
Copyright © 1996-2019 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

All About Jazz - ocena * * * *:
For the year 2017, Hull, a northern port on the east coast of England, was selected as the UK City of Culture. This led to the city commissioning or organising a series of artistic and cultural events throughout the year. One such event was the commissioned work "The Height of the Reeds" which celebrated the long seafaring relationship between Hull and Scandinavia.

Composed by the Norwegians Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang, for three months from April to June, the music was used to accompany a sound walk across the mile-and-a-third Humber Bridge, the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world that it is possible to cross by foot. The event attracted so many visitors that its run was extended to three months from the originally-planned one month.

So successful was the music that, with some minor modifications, it has now been released by Rune Grammofon. Although written and performed by the Norwegians, fittingly, they were joined by musicians closer to Hull. From the bridge, local sound artist Jez Riley French made field recordings of the river below, the noise of engines, creaking of wires, wind blowing reeds and so forth.

The choir and orchestra of Opera North provided atmospheric settings for the soloists. Two Hull actors—Maureen Lipman and Barrie Rutter—and a seven-year-old girl read translations of poems by Norwegian poet Nils Christian Moe-Repstad to music arranged by Aleksander Waaktar. As the publicity for the sound walk said, "Head on over to the Humber Bridge, put on a set of our headphones and disappear into a sound adventure, walking the epic span of the Bridge, with a world of sound in your ears."

Although all of that may make it sound as if the music is on an epic scale, the album actually consists of nine tracks, totalling forty-two-and-a-half minutes, the longest being just under nine minutes, the shortest just under two. Across the tracks, a variety of sounds and settings are heard. But, as is so often the case with Arve Henriksen albums, at the heart of the album, irresistibly attracting attention, are the plaintive sounds of Henriksen's falsetto vocals and keening trumpet playing a series of short, melodic phrases that merit no other description but "simply beautiful." Admirers of Henriksen's past work need only know that The Height of the Reeds is fit to follow in the footsteps of Chiaroscuro (2004) and Places of Worship (2013). Newcomers to Henriksen can safely join here, too.
By JOHN EYLES

Editor's Info:
"The Height Of The Reeds" started as a commissioned work to the city of Hull, Great Britain´s cultural capital 2017. Composed by Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset and Jan Bang, the work celebrates the longstanding seafaring relationship between Hull and Scandinavia. It was originally the musical companion to a sound walk that took place in April, May and June 2017. Those who took part could listen to the music on headphones while crossing the Humber Bridge. Initially intended for April only, the arrangement proved so popular it ended up with selling out three months, a total of 15.000 tickets.

Whether it will be repeated in the future remains to be seen, but at least the evocative music can now be experienced on this release. Only minor adjustments have been done to justify the transition from sound walk to album.

Other than Henriksen, Aarset and Bang, the work includes important contributions from Hull sound artist Jez Riley French, providing field recordings from the bridge itself: the river below, the noise of engines, the creaking of steel wires, wheels against asphalt and the song of the reeds in the wind. Opera North´s choir and orchestra provides the necessary musical space for the soloists, and two actors and a child are reading from translated poems by Norwegian poet Nils Christian Moe-Repstad.

This is a beautiful addition to Arve Henriksen´s large and fast growing discography, and sits well with his very popular Jan Bang collaborations "Chiaroscuro" (2004) and "Places Of Worship" (2013).

muzycy:
Arve Henriksen: trumpet, voice
Eivind Aarset: guitar, electronics
Jan Bang: samples, programming
Jez Riley French: field recordings

utwory:
A1. Come April
A2. Reefs And Roots
A3. The Swans Bend Their Necks Backward To See God
A4. Height Of The Reeds In The Wetlands
B1. Is There A Limit For The Internal?
B2. Nymphs And Eurasian Horses
B3. Waders
B4. The Wind In The Willows
B5. Pink Cherry Trees

total time - 42:31
wydano: 2018-09-07
nagrano: recorded at punkt studio, kristiansand by jan bang and at howard assembly room, leeds by jamie saye

more info: www.runegrammofon.com