Kjetil Mulelid Trio – And Now

Grappa

Although the Kjetil Mulelid Trio has been recording since 2017, this is their first album with replacement bassist Rune Nergard, and continues their jazz-adjacent explorations with a light and adventurous sound that ushers the listener through landscapes familiar yet refreshed.

There is something rather plaintive in the minor chords of opener “Age Of Enlightenment”. The tone is gentle and slightly rainy, but turning playful skipping into a less reserved place and drawing the ever-compliant rhythm section with it. Kjetil enjoys whimsical motion, but with a touch of abstraction and it feels as though two pieces are being fused together. This is quite common throughout the album as his relentless, imaginative progress is kindly accompanied by the scuffed, scoured percussion and elastic, vibrant bass.

There is a real clarity to the piano; an open-hearted sweep that sounds like attempts to musically describe physical experiences. Elemental landscapes and sweeping vistas open up, always with a natural flow but sometimes meandering, taking a detour that slows the momentum, giving an opportunity to look around with detail.

Drummer Andreas Winther is particularly adept at providing this sort of texture and the rhythm section’s ingenuity means this is not just about jazz. In fact, “The Greatest Love” has a romantic songwriter’s sensibility; its easy radio melody is crying out for somebody to add lyrics and send it into the charts, but this lack of words allows the listener to paint their own picture.

Although they are perhaps recognised as a jazz trio, there is much more going on here. The melancholy space of “Singing Sands”, with its hints at modern classical evokes a very different situation to the folky melody and repeating motifs of “Waltz For Agoja”, the subtle use of cymbals to enhance the joyful drive proving essential.

There is more improv abstraction on “Any Day Now”, its stuttering rhythm and splashy cymbals taking the place of the piano for a while. Kjetil is clearly happy to stand aside and allow Rune and Andreas to test their mettle, ploshing around sharp and soft, satisfying cymbals crashes escaping into the light.

The album closes with something a little more rarefied, stripped-back, minimal, sparse and shy. “Sailor’s Song Part II” is a gentle closer, one that allows the free-flowing excitement of the past forty minutes to sink in and settle a little before the album finishes. Bjorn’s departure hasn’t so much changed the sound as allowed new avenues to open, but retaining their adventurous spirit. Long may this continue.

-Mr Olivetti-