It’s not appreciated here in the US, but there are some exciting sounds coming out of Scandinavia, and they’re not all from the sterile sounding ECM label. This disc from tenor saxist Christian Vuust is a case in point. He’s got a glowing tone not unlike vintage Don Byas or Hank Mobley, nice and middle weight. He teams up with a stellar group of guys, Aaron Parks (from Kurt Rosenwinkel), Ben Street (Pat Metheny) and Jeff Ballard (Brad Mehldau) and creates a subtly swinging group of originals that have that extra dry martini sound reminiscent of vintage Paul Desmond Quarters. The flow of pieces such as “Helgenaes” and the spacious “Tompkins Square Park” create a dusk like beauty, while Parks’ voicings on “Laerke” and the thoughtful title track are impressive impressions of less being more. The piano/tenor duet on the dreamy “Summer Bygone” begs for an entire disc of such examples of pas de deux, while Streets bass on the melancholy and blue “Wedding Song” glows in the dark. This one’s a treat!
Aero Music