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Carsten Lindholm’s ‘Tribute’ is Carsten’s attempt to pay tribute to some of his influences in modern jazz and nu jazz including John Coltrane, Bill Laswell and Nils Petter Molvaer amongst others. I think the spirit of those innovators in modal jazz and the cosmic approach to concept and sound are well represented in the music presented here. In the letter that came with this CD, Lindholm promises a blend of jazz, drumnbass, ambience, Indian tabla beats led by simple Nordic melodies and I think he delivers on that promise. This sort of dub fusion style is really a big leader in today’s jazz world and still has room for a lot more innovation and great music. Its encouraging to see more artists exploring what can be created in combining jazz with modern approaches to sound and rhythm.
Carsten’s drumming is excellent and he is well-versed in modern styles that are often difficult to duplicate as many modern rhythms were originally created by DJs or drum machines. Also many of his guest soloists make fine contributions, particularly the hot soloing of trumpeter Tav Klitgaard. If there is one complaint about this CD though, it would be the mixing and production. When it comes to music like this the drums should dominate dub stylee. A good reference point is the masters of dub like Sly and Robbie or Prince Jammy, the bass and drums come first and all else is just icing. Another problem with the mix on ’Tribute’ is that some of the ambient sounds and ethereal pads on the guitars are mixed too loud which also seems to push the drums further back. I think a stronger drum mix and a more sparing use of the ambient guitar pads would put Lindholm near the top of today’s nu jazz scene.
I’m looking forward to a lot more music from Carsten Lindholm, he has an excellent grip on today’s dub jazz fusion approach, top notch drumming skills and a vision of musical combinations that should be interesting for a long time to come.