Stefano Bollani/Jesper Bodilsen/Morten Lund: Stone In The Water (ECM 179 4161)
The Italian virtuoso pianist has recorded for ECM as a member of Enrico Rava’s band, and in duo with the trumpeter; he also produced the glittering Piano Solo for the company in 2006.
This trio, with Danish bass (Bodilsen) and drums Lund), might appear new – in fact it has been together for six years and made two previous non-ECM recordings. Bollani explains something of the way it works:
“There is a special chemistry in the trio, difficult to pin down in words. We’re all about the same age, we all grew up listening to the same records, have a similar range of interests… that’s part of it. We never have to discuss how to play a piece of music, which in my experience is very unusual, and there’s a shared understanding that the way we play the songs can sometimes be more important than the material itself.”
The music on this disc certainly has that natural flow. For the most part it feels like a gently moving mountain stream, curling round rocks and tipping over ledges, making perfect sense and changing shape and colour as it goes. Both Bollani and Bodilsen contribute original tunes – Bollani’s Asuda sounds like a golden standard just on first hearing – but they also make songs by Caetano Veloso and Antonio Carlos Jobim theirs, and, acknowledging Bollani’s eclectic past and the starting point of Piano Solo, they also play Poulenc Improvisation 13 en la mineur.
If the last ten years or so has taught us piano trio fans anything, it has taught us overwhelmingly that this format is infinite with possibilities – the jazz equivalent of the string quartet, perhaps? – but while there are many piano trios out there, there are only a handful that achieve this level of interactive playing.
Stefano Bollani has a residency at Kings Place in London from 18 to 21 November as part of the London Jazz Festival, and we are assured the Bollani/Bodilsen/Lund trio will play a part.
Categories: CD review
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