Thomas Clausen Trio: Sol

Modern Jazz / Pianistyka Jazzowa
premiera polska: 2012-11-22
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Dania
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
Editor's info:
Thomas Clausen Trio is an institution in Danish jazz. His first trio from the early 1980s– with bassist Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and drummer Aage Tanggaard – placed him among the great Danish jazz pianists. Since then, many of Denmark’s leading rhythm players have passed through his various trios. In 2006 he started his latest – fourth – jazz trio, which includes Denmark’s perhaps most talented jazz bassist today, Thomas Fonnesbak, and the extremely elegant and popular drummer Karsten Bagge. In August 2006 the trio recorded their acclaimed album BACK TO BASICS, featuring a selection of well-known jazz standards and compositions by Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis, as well as two Clausen originals, a ballad called “Home” and the more aggressive “Pelicans… & Other Birds”. And this is where SOL begins. Aside from Thomas Laub’s “Det er hvidt herude”, the trio plays exclusively Thomas Clausen’s compositions – worn in and polished during many performances.

Recorded at Gothenburg’s Nilento Studio, the music is translucent, serene, mature and beautiful, as only Denmark’s no.1 jazz trio can play. Their intensity and intuitive elegance, their superb interplay – indeed they sound like a single organism – is more intense than ever, and words like intimate and sparkling come to mind, when attempting to describe their telepathic communication. The trio is the perfect platform for Clausen’s personal piano style and broad-scoped musical world. This is the European – perhaps Danish – side of Clausen’s music, not the Latin side of his talent, and the mature and bold compositions span the whole emotional range from melancholy moods to straightforward grooves.

Thomas Clausen was very young when he began accompanying many of the giants of jazz. His energetic piano-playing was first discovered by Dexter Gordon (1969). Around the same time he and Palle Mikkelborg started a collaboration that would last for years with V8 and Entrance. Soon he began playing with bassists Niels- Henning Orsted Pedersen, Bo Stief and Mads Vinding and drummers Alex Riel and Bjarne Rostvold. He was a regular musician at the Jazz House Montmartre, where he accompanied many international stars including Ben Webster, Elvin Jones, Jan Gabarek, Joe Henderson, Phil Woods, Lee Konitz, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis, Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz and Johnny Griffin. In 1978 he started his first group, Mirror, with whom he recorded his first album of original material. In the mid-1990s Clausen began working with Brazilian guitarist and composer Celso Mendes, who introduced him to Brazilian music. Clausen has also composed for classical ensembles.

At 63, Clausen moves within various genres with great dedication, freedom and virtuosity. However, he has always been extremely fond of the traditional no-nonsense acoustic piano trio. The Danish jazz monthly Jazz Special has stopped using stars in their reviews. Instead, they provide the very best releases with a “sax-rose”. SOL received a “sax-rose” along with the review from which the following was excerpted:
“SOL lives in the balance of that very special Clausen emotional scope between introverted and outgoing. Combined, they make for a beautiful and satisfying experience. The CD is a strong exclamation mark – a work to define Danish jazz anno 2012. With his trio, Thomas Clausen is among the important and authoritative voices.”
Jazz Special #129.

muzycy:
Thomas Clausen: piano, electric piano
Thomas Fonnesbak: bass
Karsten Bagge: drums

utwory:
1. Springtime
2. Dream
3. Sol
4. Prelude
5. Det er Hvidt Derude
6. Green Grass
7. Flowers & Trees
8. Bass Space
9. The Norway
10. Fairy Tale
11. Skumring
12. SoTo Speak

wydano: 2012-10
more info: www.sundance.dk
more info2: www.thomasclausen.com