Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick owns a very characteristic sound that has been applauded not only in his personal projects but also in works of other respected authors such as Jacob Young, Iro Haarla, and Manu Katché. From 1998 to 2014, he was a legitimate member of the peculiar big band Jaga Jazzist, artisans of an adventurous electronic jazz.
On Ravensburg, his fourth release on the ECM label, Eick delves in his original compositions with the habitual discipline and composure he has developed throughout the years. The eight tunes were shaped with the grandiose support of a musical crew that includes violinist Hakon Aase, pianist Andreas Ulvo, electric bassist Audun Erlien, and a pair of competent rhythm stylists such as Thorstein Lofthus and Helge Andreas Norbakken, who play together for the very first time. …show more content…
Completely antagonistic in the mood, “Children” adds a lot more elements to an uplifted rhythmic dance that, still unaggressive and picturesque, brings in a sort of jazz-house feel. The bandleader uses his clear voice alongside the violin before embarking on unisons with the trumpet. He follows exactly the same procedures on “August” and “Parents”, two pieces that stick to a similar line of action. The former, a soothing ballad, features Ulvo’s acute statements and the drummers’ gorgeous effects with snare drags and cymbal slashes; the latter shows us the band generating a simple backbone with the drummers deserving all our attention for the valuable nuances induced in the rhythm. If there’s any predictability in Eick’s musical moves, it's definitely not extended to the inventive rhythmic