Opening＜限定盤＞

繊細でリリカルな美旋律満載の演奏が多くのジャズ・ファンを魅了する21世紀のECMを代表するピアニストによる4年ぶりのトリオ作品。

2003年、デビュー・アルバム『Changing Places』をECMからリリースして以来、そのリリシズムあふれるヨーロッパならではの旋律が多くのピアノ・トリオ・ファンを魅了するトルド・グスタフセンの4年ぶりのトリオ・アルバム。

ECMからのトリオ作品としては5作目にあたる本作は、彼の初期の作品で探求された特徴やスタイルを発展させながら、トリオのレパートリーに幅広いしなやかさと変化した相互作用の感覚を導入している。ベーシストにノルウェーの実力派ベーシスト、スタイナー・ラクネスが参加。トルドの洗練されたコード研究とヤール・ヴェスペスタの繊細なスティックとブラシワークの間にすぐに溶け込み、深いところで同僚をサポートしているように感じられる。

音楽には特に開放感があり、ゆったりとしたインプロヴィゼーションと、自分のペースで秘密とメロディを明らかにしていく傾向が顕著だ。「抽象的であれ叙情的であれ、何かを語りたいという衝動は内側から湧いてくるものなんだ」とトルドは説明する。「アルバムのレコーディングでは、まず呼吸を整え、より有機的な方法でサウンドスケープを開き、メロディが自然に出てくるようにした方がいいと感じたんだ」とコメント。

＜パーソネル＞
Tord Gustavsen (p, electronics) Steinar Raknes (double-b, electronics) Jarle Vespestad(ds)
★2021年10月、スイス、ルガーノ、オーディトリオ・ステリオ・モロにて録音

Four years after Tord Gustavsen returned to proper trio recording on The Other Side, his personnel shifted again. The pianist abandoned the format for a decade after the death of bassist Harald Johnsen. He returned to trio recording with bassist Sigurd Hole on 2018s globally acclaimed The Other Side. After touring for more than a year, Hole left. Even as the pandemic raged, Gustavsen sought to maintain the creative momentum that renewed focus on the trio set in motion. To record Opening, he enlisted veteran bassist/electronicist Steinar Raknes, a respected first-call Norwegian whose resume includes stints with Michael Brecker, Chick Corea, Bobby McFerrin, and many others. The first ten tracks are all Gustavsen originals. A shimmering cymbal, resonant tom-toms, melodic bassline, and tentative piano notes introduce "The Circle." Gustavsens melody is repetitive, shifting from mode to harmonic lyricism with melodic fills from Raknes. Drummer Jarle Vespestads timekeeping is appended by gloriously sparse, yet colorful accents. The syncopated lyricism in the bridge is breathtaking. "The Longing," at just a shade over two-and-a-half minutes, is a hymn-like interlude with one of the most compelling interactions between pianist and bassist on the record. On "Shepherds Song," an ambient electronic drone supports a nearly bluesy lower-middle register piano statement as Vespestad rumbles on ride cymbals and snare. When Raknes enters with an appended harmonic vamp, Gustavsen engages in post-bop reverie. A mournful piano and electronically enhanced arco bassline introduce the nearly Gothic "Helensburgh Tango." The formal melodic exchange between bass and piano is deeply rooted in Argentinian milonga, but layers of reverb and constantly rolling snares add an elegiac dimension. While "Re-Opening" opens on a drifting series of modal drones and chords, its fluid pace unfolds circularly. An elliptical synth resembling an electric guitars whine showers the front line as Vespestad gently urges it on. At seven minutes, "Stream," is an elliptical ballad that flirts with gospel and classical music before its modernist jazz persona emerges. The dark, foreboding, suspenseful "Ritual" is almost rockist. Gustavsen lays into electronically treated lower register chordal vamps as Vespestad employs snare, hi-hat, and kick drum to underscore the pianists momentum. Raknes bass is so electronically enhanced it resembles a distorted bluesy electric guitar wailing. Gustavsens short solo underscores the rippling drama with telegraph key precision. The set closes with readings of two compositions by 20th century Norwegian composers: The short, expressionistic reading of Geirr Tveitts "Floytelat" (The Flute), bridges the classical, and cinematic traditions (complete with spaghetti western-style whistling). The closer, Egil Hovlands "Var Sterk, Min Sjel," reflects the gentle minor-key hymnody of Gustavsens Lutheran background, even as he extrapolates on it in the language of contemporary gospel and modal post-bop. Opening incorporates information from each of his previous trio incarnations then extrapolates them to create this strange yet welcoming inquiry into a jazz piano trios highly textured encounter and dialogue with the elliptical nature of time, space, tone, and color. ~ Thom Jurek