Same instruments, various permutations…
Pianist Michael Wollny joins together with bassist Tim Lefebvre and drummer Eric Schaefer for a collection of four opuses ranging from 12-20 minutes. The pieces are medleys of sorts, consisting of “sets”. “Set 1” combines compositions by Alban Berg and Paul Hindemith for a mix of a rambling rumble to a hot bopping climax, while Wollny’s own “Hauntology” joins with “In A Sentimental Mood” and a Jon Brion/Charles Kaufman piece that has Schaefer rollicking to a back beat before Wollny goes from solo to late night club milieus. “Set III” has some wide finger stride and loose fluid double-timing, before “Set IV” wraps up on a lyrical flow that builds up to a climax on Jeff Babko’s ”This West”. A long day’s journey into night.
With percussionist Audun Kleive and bassist Per Zanussi, Norwegian pianist Eyolf Dales puts together a collection of concise and subdued originals. Kleive is using brushes almost the entire session in order to keep the mood mellow, with Dale’s piano stylings highly Mozartian on songs like the funky “Distilled” and bluesy “Driving Through, Passing By” while getting into some Bach fugue territory on the dot and dashing “Patterns In The Sky”. Some romanticism glides during “Garden Waltz” and the ivories chime like crystal during the elegant “Silent Shores” with Zanussi pulsating with a joggers beat on the forward moving “When The Shadows Dance”. A little night music.