Time

Recorded and mixed at Avatar Studios, NYC, September 2011
Engineer: James Farber / Assistant: Bob Mallory
Mastering engineer: Andreas Hviid
Cover artwork: Line Jensen & Kathrine Baastrup

Time is the kind of album that you can approach in different ways. If, for instance, you have already listened to the Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s previous, praised, and award-winning release Balladeering, you immediately recognize the musical feeling. As such, Time is obviously a sequel to the exquisite international collaboration which Bro established with jazz icons Lee Konitz, Bill Frisell, and Paul Motian, among others. However, Time is also a complete album with its own particular flow and ambient character. This time there is no drummer, but instead a new phenomenal bass player present; Thomas Morgan. Together the artists create an absorbing and profound album that has an exceptional shared pulse to it, running through all eight tracks composed by Bro.

If Jakob Bro with Balladeering got lucky when he managed to have both Lee Konitz and Bill Frisell recording his compositions in a legendary studio in New York, then it seems completely natural that they would meet again around the making of Time. Simply because the musical conversation between them is so special; the alto sax player Konitz with his lifelong experience, Frisell with his persistently original guitar sound, Bro with the ability to turn his straightforward songs into genuine jazz art – and now supported by Morgan who is considered one of the most prolific bass players of contemporary jazz. Several generations divide the four musicians, but Time is not so much concerned with that type of chronological difference. Rather, it is about the time and movement of the music itself, the momentum of improvisation, and the presence of interaction. About shaping a collective world of sound with Bro’s compositions as constant clues.

Even at a first listening you realize just how fruitful the combination of these jazz individuals is. Despite having reached his 84th year, spending more than a good half of them as a professional musician, Konitz still plays with an extraordinary original tone and emotive intensity. Nobody sounds like him and very few have equally captivating stories to tell with their instrument. And anyone with a sense of music must be touched by Konitz’ playing on tracks such as “Nat” and “Northern Blues”. Frisell and Bro simply resonate organically and telepathically together. They also share the ability to embed various effects to their sound in a way which is both experimental and subtle. Something that varies and expands the musical atmosphere, but is never heard above the basic vibe of the individual songs. Also, the effortless dialogue between them is demonstrated on “A Simple Premise” and “Smaa Dyr”, where the two guitarists are almost on their own, with Morgan on bass.

And actually not only here, but during the entire span of the album, Morgan’s playing proves to be a very substantial component. Far from just providing a basic pulse or steady ground for the others, Morgan is also an outstanding soloist – meandering in and out of melodies, harmonies and rhythmical structures, acting both entirely unpretentious and virtuoso at the same time. His great musical range completes the diversity of the album, which can exactly be listened to at different levels: as a continuous downtempo stream of timbres, tones and melodies that nearly dissolve your habitual sense of time. Or as a constant interchange of improvised moments and variations on the song themes, with the focus shifting dynamically. No matter how you choose to listen in on Time, you will be seized by it: By its atmosphere and moods, by the musical performances, and by the intimate sound displaying it all distinctly but unpolished.