Blaly: ‘Resonans’

There is a huge variety of jazz trios carving their own sound from a ‘traditional’ format, and ‘Resonans’ from Blåly provides Scandinavian folk echoes and influences from the world the musicians have experienced on their various travels.

Resonans opens with a reflection of the sea shore: Bølger (Waves) immediately conjures up a Scandinavian landscape in a collaboration between the three musicians: Barbara Fiig (piano), Johan Kjær Houver (bass) and Timon Matern (drums).

The second track - Midt i alting (In the Midst of Everything) - begins with some gorgeous piano and establishes a delightful groove that echoes between piano and bass. Bowed bass is one of the individual sounds of this whole album and it’s used to particularly good effect here.

I love the titles chosen for these tunes and up next are Det løser sig (It’ll Work Out) and Solnedgang i øst (Sunset in the East) which both allow the trio to once more all contribute to a groove and melody that is gently reassuring and relaxing. Rather than beginning a tune and opening it up for solos, the Blåly style is collaborative and explorative between the trio.

The only non-original tune on Resonans is the trio’s arrangement of Emigrantvisa, a traditional Swedish folk song.

We’re taken out on an excursion with Ud flugt, with a groove that is reminiscent of the motion of a train or car ride before there comes the Summer Rain of Sommerreg, Tid (Time) and the Welsh-inspired Cymru.

Beginning the title track - Resonans (Reverberation) - with more of the beautiful bowed bass and classically-inspired piano and percussion: once more, this is a trio collaborating, without feeling the need to break into extended solos. In the end, this is an album that is all about a cohesive trio producing music that inspires and delights with global references that can resonate with us all.

‘Resonans’ from Blåly is out on 23 October via April Records