Gorm Askjær Trio: Blodmånen Og Dig
Jaeger Community Music

Guitarist Gorm Askjær leads bassist Jens Mikkelc Madsen and drummer Thomas Eiler in a trio date that's about as no-frills as it could possibly be. A video of the three playing “A Night In Tunisia” shows them side-by-side in a cluttered studio, Eiler generating a rambunctious, ever-mutating flow on a well-worn kit and Madsen and Askjær with him every step of the way. A similarly rootless quality pervades much of the material, in large part due to the drummer's preference for free-floating patterns rather than ones firmly grounded in strict metre.

The Danish jazz musicians have played before but in larger contexts and so appear on Blodmånen og Dig (The Blood Moon and You) for the first time as a trio. All but two of the nine compositions are credited to Askjær, the old Hanley-McDonald tune “Back Home Again In Indiana” and the Gillespie-Paparelli bebop classic the covers. Askjær's playing very much sets the tone, with the others aligning their own expressions to his shifts in dynamics and intensity. While he's no copycat, his sound is at times reminiscent of Bill Frisell's in the country-tinged twang that occasionally surfaces.

With the three interacting so closely, the music's feel is intimate, especially when the guitarist largely eschews aggressiveness for a contemplative approach, something that's particularly evident during quieter explorations such as “Sang Til Et Egern” (Song For A Squirrel) and “Det Klareste Rav” (The Clearest Amber) and the trio's affectionate rendering of “Back Home Again In Indiana.” While “A Night In Tunisia” almost combusts with energy, “Tryl Mig I Søvn” (Enchant Me To Sleep) is naturally sedate, though not lacking for interest in the attentiveness with which the musicians interact. Yet even at a subdued pitch, the activity level remains high when Madsen and Eiler generate an ever-restless backdrop to the leader's musings. Blodmånen Og Dig doesn't lack for range, either, as the harder-edged “Nede I Et Dybt Hul” (Down a Deep Hole) illustrates, Askjær's playing at its most gnarly.

August 2020