Since starting Jazzland twenty-five years ago, Bugge Wesseltoft has dipped in and out of collaborations and various artist projects with regularity, finding different modes of expression depending on the players involved.
Here, shorn of any outside involvement apart from assistance from Håkon Kornstad on a couple of pieces, we find Bugge at the piano allowing his mind to wander, seeing where this freedom and time to ponder will lead him.
There is a clear purity to the piano sound, like petals opening slowly in spring sunshine, the sustain stretching time and odd notes which feel just off, giving a sense of surroundings being questioned. Things unfurl at a gentle rate on this album; it is not a hurried selection, but moves at a leisurely pace, an effortless movement across a breaking dawn, chords rolling warm and broad.He is able to convey a lot with his simple selection of chords; this is not a virtuoso display of dazzling technicality, but a conversation with himself and with the listener, trying on ideas, a calm, reflective description of a tranquil state. Most of the pieces are a good antidote to current travails, but the inclusion of the odd jarring minor chord is enough to make you realise that life isn’t just an easy ride.
The Rhodes on “Emerging” gives a fuzzier feeling of warmth and it is surprising how different the effect can be. Here, the addition of Håkon’s tenor sax evokes a conversation between friends who have not connected for a while, the break allowing fresh thoughts to gather. The low burr of breath through the reed reveals an intimacy, and this gentle embrace meanders pleasantly like any conversation. The listener can almost sense the thought processes as the occasional discordant note and daggered chord hints at an unquiet mind. Bird song and kamlimba on “Life” changes the tone again. This is more hesitant and questioning, and the title hints at a broad vista, opening the window onto new discoveries that perhaps have been kept at bay up to this point. A fresh awakening that reveals the playful dance of “Gonna Be OK” trailing its fingers in the water, effortless desire and a journey through the lower register that reveals some portentous, ominous tones struck with a feeling of gentle urgency.The album ends with “Sunbeams Through Leaves Softly Rustling”, the title of which describes the mood perfectly; afternoons of slow-moving contemplation, perhaps a glance at the papers to see what new drama is unfolding, but still warmly ensconced in your own sound world.
-Mr Olivetti-
