THOMAS STRØNEN “Relations”

ARTIST

Thomas Strønen

ALBUM TITLE

“Relations”

LABEL

ECM

______________________________________________________________

This album transports listeners back half a century to the 1970s – not with nostalgia or anachronism, but through a continuation of that decade’s exploratory spirit. Relations, running just thirty-six minutes, fully embodies its title, recounting the genesis and unfolding of an abstract, multi-faceted project in the finest ECM tradition.

The album’s episodes range widely: from rarefied atmospheres bordering on contemporary music – as in Confronting Silence and Arc of Drums, performed solo by Strønen – to duets between Langeland’s voice and kantele that draw on the spirit of Northern European folk traditions. Dialogues with Potter’s tenor and soprano saxophones evoke the “interstellar spaces” once mapped by John Coltrane and Rashied Ali, while Taborn’s piano and Rossy’s vibraphone (the latter stepping away from drums for this session) steer the ensemble toward the territories and dynamics of free improvisation.

The result is music that feels both timeless and current – abstract yet grounded – a work of balance and openness that honors the legacy of ECM while extending it into the present.

—Ivo Franchi

DISTRIBUTED BY

Ducale

LINEUP