SPRING
Slides
ILK171
Ilk 2011
05 Tracks. 44mins30secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: DLD

Danish jazz quartet Spring first appeared in early 2008 with a self-titled album released on Copenhagen-based imprint Ilk. Led by Anders Banke (alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet) and Norwegian-born Torben Snekkestad (tenor and soprano sax, violimba), with a rhythmic section comprising double bass player Jonas Westergaard and drummer and percussionist Peter Bruun, the quartet’s debut release, carried by both an impressive front ensemble and a very effective rhythmic section, demonstrated a taste for refined angular compositions which, while remaining in a fairly conventional set up, proved to be extremely convincing.

Three years on, the quartet have moved into much more abstract territories with their second opus. Continue Reading »

TORBEN SNEKKESTAD
Conic Folded
ILK153CD
Ilk 2009
11 Tracks. 50mins00secs

Amazon UK: CD | DLD US: CD | DLD iTunes: DLD Spotify: STRM

Scandinavia has long been a hot bed for contemporary jazz, with musicians resolutely drifting away from traditional American or European forms to explore new sounds and devise their own rules. Norwegian saxophonist Torben Snekkestad has been sharpening his talent in many formations in the last ten years, including stints with Trygve Seim and Thomas Strønen, but Conic Folded is his first solo record.

Recorded with Norwegian pianist Jon Balke, who has been an active member of the Scandinavian jazz scene for over thirty years, and Danish bass player Jonas Westergaard a much younger musician who has nevertheless been recording in various formations for years, Conic Folded is a mighty fine record indeed, where desolate melodies appear to find enough life in the driest of orchestrations to suddenly explode in colourful motifs or slowly concentrate into exquisite introvert pieces. Continue Reading »