Thomas Strönen – ‘Relations’

This intriguing album came about as a result of drummer/percussionist Thomas Strönen having time at the end of a recording session to record a series of percussion and drum solos. It was at the time of the Covid pandemic so, on the advice of Manfred Eicher, Strönen sent the recordings off to various players, with a stipulation from Eicher that they should be musicians with whom he had not previously played, with an invitation to record their responses to the solo percussion pieces and to send them in.

Responses came from saxophonist Chris Potter,  pianist Craig Taborn,  multi-instrumentalist Jorge Rossy and Sinikka Langeland, a folk musician from Norway who sings and plays the kantele, a member of the zither family which is considered Finland’s national instrument.

Most of the pieces from the responding musicians are placed in a random order on the CD, in a way which provides both variety and a sense of flow between them.

The album begins with a solo drum and percussion piece, ConfrontingSilence, and this is followed on a later track by a second solo piece, Arc For Drums.  In these Strönen plays in a more classical percussion style focussing on sounds from gongs, bells rather than on rhythmic patterns.

Chris Potter, on his two tracks, Weaving Loom on which he plays tenor sax, and Ephemeral on which he playssoprano, just goes for it, creating his own lines that run in parallel with Strönen’s; they were certainly less interactive than if they had been together in the studio.  The results are quite dramatic with the tension arising from the contrast between two approaches.

Sinikka Langeland adopted a very different method; she committed the percussion pieces to memory and recorded her contributions without direct reference to them.  She comes from a Norwegian/Finnish tradition, having been brought up in Finnskogen in Norway where her mother settled having left Karelia and she brings that tradition to bear in her improvisations, The results are nicely integrated with the two players taking turns to exchange phrases, with the sound of Strönen’s gentle skittering lines matching the sound of the kantele on the two tracks featuring that instrument, Koyasan and Nemesis. On the vocal track, Beginners Guide To Simplicity Langeland’s attractive voice is complemented by the ambient sound of the gongs.

Craig Taborn decided not to listen to the percussion tracks before reacting to them; he went straight in.  On The Axiom of Equality Taborn is gentle in the spaces between the drum phrases, but comes in strongly in direct reaction to a burst on the drums.  By contrast, on the longer track, Pentagonal Garden, Taborn plays a series of very short phrases in response to Strönen’s busier lines, but gradually becomes more expansive.  Both pieces are attractively thoughtful.

Jorge Rossy came up with yet another approach; he spent a lot of time working on different responses and submitting pieces on drums and vibes as well as the three pieces on piano that were eventually selected. These pieces, Nonduality, Ishi and KMJ have Rossy playing short rounded phrases leaving plenty of space for the drums.  They have more of a composed feel.

The tracks were put together and edited by Strönen with Manfred Eicher to construct a programme which lasts 35 minutes.  The variety of the approaches adopted by the responding musicians and the resulting differences in balance between more spontaneous and more structured approaches makes this a very listenable album.

from https://ukjazznews.com