Jorgen Emborg Quartet feat. Mathias Heise: What's Left?

Straightahead / Mainstream Jazz
premiera polska: 2018-01-12,
Wydawnicto Audiofilskie
opakowanie: digipackowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Ta płyta jest wyrazem podziwu dla zmarłego w 2016 roku, legendarnego mistrza harmonijki ustnej - Tootsa Thielemansa. Jorgen Emborg, duński pianista i kompozytor, w kameralnym składzie prezentuje materiał, pełen ujmujących, bezpretensjonalnych tematów, w jakich zwykł występować Thielemans. Prawdziwą ozdobą nagrania jest znakomity na harmonijce ustnej Mathias Heise. Kwartet uzupełniają Peter Hansen na kontrabasie i Karsten Bagge za perkusją.

Dorobek kompozytorski Emborga, w harmonijny sposób godzi niezwykle wyrafinowaną ekspresję z liryczną spontanicznością, która porywa fanów jazzu już od pocz. lat 70-tych.
Tak jest i tym razem, jego nowy kwartet, wydaje się być kompletną układanką, a chciałoby się powiedzieć klasyczne kompozycje, pełne wysmakowanych ornamentów, ascetycznych zdobień, trafiają na podatny grunt. Bluesowa fraza w "Sudden exit", wyrafinowana ballada "Wait for the sign", w której unisono grają lider na fortepianie i Mathias Heise na harmonijce ustnej, czy optymistyczny, pozytywny "Snowballs and sleigh bells" to ozdoby tej płyty.

Niewiele jest albumów, na których harmonijka ustna odgrywa tak znaczącą rolę, po lekturze płyty wiem, że Mathias Heise to prawdziwy wirtuoz i przyszłość harmonijki chromatycznej.
autor: Mateusz Krępski
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Editor's Info:
Emborg’s acoustic quartet with harmonica phenomenon Mathias Heise, drummer Karsten Bagge and bassist Peter Hansen has recorded nine new Emborg compositions, which are on a par with any of his best pieces.

Back in 1991 critic Boris Rabinowitch wrote of composer and pianist Jorgen Emborg, “No one in Denmark writes tunes like Emborg’s. They have personality, they are original, and they are often based on unorthodox structures that are a little too complex for the normal listener to hum along with. But never the less, they are so catchy that their echo vibrates in your mind for a long time.” His description still fits perfectly.

Since the late 1970’s Jorgen Emborg’s compositional style and open-minded playing has created a very personal sound. He has fronted his own bands, and in the mid-1980’s he was the main composer for Frontline – the favorite rock band among jazz aficionados and the favorite jazz band among rock audiences. He co-led an extremely popular band with vocalist Mona Larsen, was a member of the Danish Radio Big Band and Swedish Tolvan Big Band, part of tenor saxophonist Bob Rockwell’s bands as well as being a very busy studio and live sideman.

Emborg’s distinguished talents as a musician and composer have earned him many honors, most recently the Danish Art Foundatioin’s lifetime honorary awarda rare and illustrious recognition for someone from the rhythmic musicscene. The honor was motivated in Emborg’s musicianship and compositions “...built on a foundation of musical bril- liance, a knowledge of harmony reserved for a minority, and a musical drive that has produced an Emborg catalogue of new Danish evergreens.”

Emborg’s music has always balanced on the thin line bet- ween an extremely sophisticated expression and a lyrical spontaneity that also grabs listeners from outside the world of jazz. Emborg’s new acoustic quartet with harmonica phen- omenon Mathias Heise, drummer Karsten Bagge and bassist Peter Hansen, performs nine new Emborg pieces that are on a par with the best of his compositions. One might think that he could not possibly pull more beautiful themes out of his sleeve, but once again Emborg demonstrates that he is still one of the country’s finest composers.

This recording contains wonderful ballads, rock-steady up- tempo tracks, some inspiration from Brazil, and pieces that illustrate that Emborg never stops developing as a compo- ser. But all tracks are unmistakably Emborg! The CD finishes off with a new recording of one of Emborg’s most beautiful and well-known tunes, Song For Toots, a tribute to Toots Thielemans, who passed away in 2016. Here, the young harmonica virtuoso Heise and one of Thielemans’ greatest admirers, pianist Jorgen Emborg, pay homage to the dece- ased master.

muzycy:
Jorgen Emborg (piano, keyboards)
Peter Hansen (bass)
Karsten Bagge (drums)
Mathias Heise (harmonica)

utwory:
1. Snowballs 05:01
2. Sudden Exit 06:05
3. That’s Why 03:08
4. Wait For The Sign 03:58
5. What’s Left? 04:05
6. The Never-ending Waltz 05:16
7. Playful And Joyful 03:57
8. Three Choices 05:16
9. Rule No 1 05:17
10. Song For Toots 05:48

more info: www.sundance.dk