As Good As It Gets (Rune Grammofon)
Espen Eriksen with Andy Shepherd
Released October 6, 2023
Jazzwise Top 10 Albums of the Year 2023
YouTube:
https://music.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_mxuaWH_Sc40FLO44YQmGOcYMQArul5kwQ
Spotify:
About:
The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, and in the words of Andy:
“I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016”.
The common conclusion drawn in reviews of their first album Perfectly Unhappy five years ago was simply “more, please”, and now we are delighted to introduce As Good As It Gets, the quite brilliant follow-up. The two album titles aptly indicate a subtle change in mood, and it ́s fair to say that the new album finds the trio slightly more lively and sunny in parts, still highly melodic and lyrical, often with a typically Nordic melancholic signature (check the Grieg nod in album closer Drifting Clouds). Eriksen is a master of catchy tunes and when Sheppard adds his inimitable playing to the trio ́s minimalistic approach, magic is created.
Espen Eriksen Trio was formed in 2007 and released their debut album in 2010. As Good As It Gets is their seventh album, all on Rune Grammofon. They have toured on four continents, becoming an increasingly popular concert attraction in several countries.
Track Listing:
1. The Other Side Of Melancholy 4:34
2. Endless 4:28
3. As Good As It Gets 6:25
4. Sticks & Stones 3:59
5. Pressure 7:10
6. The American 5:33
7. Drifting Clouds 6:49
Personnel:
Espen Eriksen: piano and compositions
Lars Tormod Jenset: bass
Andreas Bye: drums
Andy Sheppard: saxophone
Recorded and mixed by Mike Hartung at Propeller Music Division, Oslo
Mastered by Morgan Nicolaysen, Oslo
Sleeve by Kim Hiorthøy
Supported by Fond for lyd og bilde, Komponistenes Vederlagsfond and TONO
Review:
It’s not often Aristotle gets a walk-on part in these pages, but this album is a classic case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. Sheppard has previously guested with Eriksen’s trio on 2018’s _Perfectly Unhappy_ and 2022’s _In the Mountains_, and these albums, together with live performances put up on YouTube, were so well received that Sheppard now gets to share the billing on this CD.
This seems appropriate, as saxophone and trio neatly dovetail together in a way that very few – just two or three, saxophone and piano trio ensembles – in contemporary jazz today have succeeded in doing (an elite group that would include Charles Lloyd and Gerald Clayton plus bass and drums, and Joe Lovano and Marilyn Crispell plus bass and drums). Playing a set of seven Eriksen originals, Eriksen’s song writing ability often gets overlooked, but his compositions draw the listener into his music, his melodies finely tuned to stimulate those areas of the brain implicated in reward and emotion. Your pleasure senses are aroused and you come back again and again wanting more, all the while getting deeper into the music that is free from the superficial gloss of virtuosity without meaning, but replete with the subtlety and grace that aspires to something more profound. Sheppard, ever the careful listener, understands this music, his trajectory in perfect alignment with a trio that speaks with one voice.
Stuart Nicholson (Jazzwise)
