Gentle saxes and trumpets are in display on these recent ECM releases…
Pianist Benjamen Lackner brings in Mathias Eick/tp, Mark Turner/ts, Linda May Han Oh/b and Matthieu Chazarenc/dr for soft and simmering originals. Turner is particularly subdued her, fluffy on “Spendrift” and elegiac with Lackner during “Chambreay”, with the two horns hinting at Miles Davis’ Nefertiti period on the dreamy “See You Again My Friend” and lyrical on “Anacapa” while brooding on “Ahwahnee” subdued tones.
Julia Hulsmann teams her piano with Uli Kempendorff/ts, Gildegunn Oiseth/tp-hrn, MarcMuellbauer/b and Heinrich Kobberling/dr on a Decalogue of pastel originals. Oiseth’s brass shimmers and sighs with Hulsmann on “The Earth Below” and Kobberling’s brushes waft on the subtle groove of “Nevergreen”. Kimpendorff opens with Oiseth on the peg leg walk of “Bubbles” and gets a bit muscular around Kobberling’s high hat on “Anti Fragile”. Muellbauer gets some space on the sophisticated “Milkweed Monarch” with autumnal colors hovering on “Under The Surface”. Elegaic lights.