Jakob Dinesen Quartet: Unconditional Love
Author: Peter Vacher
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Musicians: |
Jeff ‘Tain’ Watts (d) |
Label: |
Stunt |
Magazine Review Date: |
Dec/Jan/2022/2023 |
Media Format: |
CD, DL |
Catalogue Number: |
STUCD 22052 |
RecordDate: |
Rec. 4-5 December 2021 |
Unsurprisingly, perhaps, this album's initial track, ‘Say’, opens with a minor roundelay from Watts, its guest star. After all, it is in his home studio in Pennsylvania that this music was made, the two Danes, Dinesen and Artved having travelled from Europe to be there, picking up the New York-based bassist Moseholm, another Dane, along the way. Then it is into tempo, the highly experienced Dinesen sharing the solo space with the gifted guitarist Artved, Watts restrained initially.
It is easy to sense the influence of Stan Getz in Dinesen's quite beautiful tenor sound and reflective fluency on most of these numbers, none of them hurried or over-cooked. This is especially apparent on the elegiac title track, composed by the late pianist Geri Allen, and yet again on the leader's own ‘Jaden's Jam’ and ‘Here Comes Marvin’, the improvisations often sinuous and detailed, with Watts cleverly varying his percussive inputs.
Artved is more straight-ahead in his solos even if the atmosphere to which he contributes stays on the cooler side of hot. There's beauty here and no sign of the beast, for this is restrained, often elegant music, replete with quiet mastery, this never more evident than on the quartet's reading of Ellington's ‘Melancholia’, Dinesen's high register, immaculate concept fading into the ether, Watts puttering along.
It took the final track,’Tyk Onsdaag’ (don't ask) to liven things up, Dinesen more assertive and Watts creating rhythmic mayhem. More of this would have earned another star.
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