Guitarist
Raoul Björkenheim is without doubt one of the most important
musicians of the contemporary jazz scene. Raised in California,
he travelled extensively with his actress mother before settling
down in Finland in his teen. He has since then recorded with
the greatest, including Bill Laswell, Jah Wobble and Paul Schülze,
formed his own band, Krakatau, with whom he released four albums,
two of them published by ECM, and written orchestral music and
film scores. He has now relocated to New York. For this album
Björkenheim has teamed up with two rising musicians of
the Nordic scene, twenty nine year old bassist Ingerbigt Håker
Flaten and twenty seven year old drummer Paal Nilssen-Love.
Scorch Trio was recorded live in just two days with
no overdub or editing, in Halden, Norway, in January 2002. The
music recorded by the trio is incredibly energetic and complex,
demonstrating a perfect understanding and respect of each other’s
role. While Björkenheim is the most experienced of the
three, he doesn’t hesitate one moment to let his rhythmic
session take the lead and set up the pace before applying his
expertise. This results in a perfectly balanced, yet powerful
and assertive performance. The trio generate here some amazing
moments, touching a wide range of genres, from free improvisations
to experimental rock, Björkenheim and Håker Flaten
even venturing in signal ambience with Vittula, reminiscent
in places of the work of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. When
the trio returns to its incendiary, the fusion seems even more
intense than before.
Scorch Trio takes the listener to the forefront of
jazz experimentation while remaining accessible. It would be
wrong to say though that this album will easily be appreciated
by most, but the musical expertise of Björkenheim combined
with the dynamic force of the Håker Flaten/Nilssen-Love
rhythmic section work at creating a piece of music which is
both challenging and enjoyable.
4/5 |
