Post Description

Helge Lien Trio - Badgers And Other Beings (2014) [FLAC 24]

I hate it when people leave long established groups that work even if someone good comes in. It's not the same - ever. But soothing the pain 'Knut', the seventh tune here sprung into motion by the dark tones of Lien's left hand and a throbbing ostinato bass line is presumably written for the drummer, a nice touch. What lifts the approach of this excellent album recorded at Rainbow in Oslo in November rests in a number of reasons mainly caught up in the realisation that Lien's compositional sense grounded in Evansiana (the Bill variety) with nods to Jan Johansson and Brad Mehldau (particularly 'The New Black' here) matches the performance levels both in terms of communication and musical storytelling. While I wouldn't say the album moved me, that mysterious highly subjective but nonetheless important phenomenon, Lien seems to be able to channel emotion retaining a sense of joy while also introducing enough shade and balancing melancholia to stop the album becoming too narrowly targeted. Even if not one of the 10 pieces shout out "this is the obvious highlight" the magic is that there is an overarching conception and shared experience at work. Lien's pianism and musical personality as an improviser, yet again, remains world class. 

Al eerder gespot door TwiFi, alleen dit is een 24bitter, en daardoor weer net ff mooier.

TOP ALBUM