Relations＜限定盤＞

オスロ、ニューヨーク、バーゼル、ルガーノのアーティストたちとノルウェーのドラマー、トーマス・ストレーネンが2018年から2022年にかけて録音されたソロとデュエットをフィーチャーした吸収力のあるレコーディングで、並置され、組み替えられる。クレイグ・テイボーン、クリス・ポッター、シニッカ・ランゲラン、ホルヘ・ロッシーといったパートナーとの共演で、音楽的な参照枠は非常に広い。ランゲランの古風な響きのフォークから、ポッターのポスト・コルトレーンのサックス、そしてテイボーンの旋風的なモダニスト・ピアノまで、それぞれの要素が、このプロジェクトに新たなつながりの糸、新たな創造的関係を暗示する居場所を見出している。アルバムの完成とミキシングは、ストレーネンとプロデューサーのマンフート・アイヒャーが2023年2月にミュンヘンのバイエルン音楽スタジオで行なった。
＜パーソネル＞Thomas Stronen (ds, perc) Craig Taborn(p) Chris Potter (ss,ts) Sinikka Langeland (kantele, voice) Jorge Rossy(p)

Since 1997, Norwegian drummer and percussionist Thomas Stronen has revealed himself to be an open-minded collaborator and bandleader, as well as a deeply inspired solo collagist. He most recently displayed his virtuosity earlier in 2024 on John Surmans startling, superb Words Unspoken. Relations is a collection of solo pieces and duets with a host of trusted collaborators -- including vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland, saxophonist Chris Potter, and pianists Jorge Rossy and Craig Taborn -- recorded over four years and produced by an encouraging Manfred Eicher. The album opens with "Confronting Silence," titled after an essay by composer Toru Takemitsu. Performed solo on gran cassa (large orchestral bass drum) and gongs, it offers minimal and deliberate use of ambient space, echo, and texture. Taborn makes the first of two freewheeling appearances here on "The Axiom of Equality." Introduced by the drum kit, he enters with chords and angular shapes as Stronen layers hand percussion instruments alongside the drum kit. Taborn responds in the upper register, adding sonic contrast as he listens to and improvises on the drums. Potter makes his first of his two contributions on "Weaving Loom." Essentially a modal jazz improv, the saxophonist channels the blues and Miles-era Bennie Maupin as Stronen responds with long fluid lines and counter-rhythms. Langeland enlisted Stronen for Wind and Sun in 2023; both implicitly understand folk music and free improvisation. She is the drummers accompanist on three successive tracks. "Koyasan" is a mysterious piece that finds her kantele hovering above and below the percussion with poignancy. It sets up the albums best cut, "Beginners Guide to Simplicity." Haunted by Langelands keening, wordless vocals, Stronen adds hefty accents with gongs, bells, tom-toms, and a kick drum. Her appearance on "Nemesis" elevates a plodding, brooding percussion workout with bright, harp-like strumming before flowing into elegant dissonance as the duo plays in tandem. Primarily known as a vibraphonist, Rossy plays piano on three (nonconsecutive) improvisations. "Nonduality" is so minimal its hardly there; it offers muted textures, deep tones, and ambient space. On "Ephemeral," Potter plays soprano in Eastern modes while Stronen frames him with circular drumming and syncopated percussion, adding drama to the duet. "Pentagonal Garden" with Taborn is rich. His exceptionally restrained playing is rendered with pp and even ppp (a la Morton Feldmans piano works) and seats Stronens dark tom-toms. The title track is another percussion solo that investigates echo and single notes inside the space with chimes, bass drum, and gently ticking cymbals. "Ishi" and "KMJ" both feature Rossy. The former offers soft articulations from the pianos lower register with elliptical yet canny fills from the drummer. The latter employs a muted, reverbed snare to establish a fluid, nonlinear tempo. The snare is its own pulse, underscored by reverbed bass drum and then illustrated by the pianist. Relations is a curious album; its lovely to listen to yet frustrating to comprehend, as the tracks are so brief that one is unable to fully enter their hidden depths. ~ Thom Jurek