Be Here Whenever

After the plaintively beautiful but solitary sound of Benedicte Maurseth’s self-titled solo album (reviewed in the November 2019 issue, #152), it seems a natural progression that the Hardanger fiddle virtuoso should want to collaborate with other musicians. With Be Here Whenever she teams up with her husband guitarist Stein Urheim, cellist Danielle de Gruttola and guitarist Henry Kaiser to form a Norwegian/American quartet. Kaiser’s account is that the album “created itself within a few hours,” so it should come as no surprise that the nine tracks here sound largely improvised. Opener ‘Førespel’ hauntingly blends Maurseth’s Hardanger fiddle with de Gruttola’s cello and the album proceeds to stir in Kaiser’s experimental guitar sounds (reminiscent of Robert Fripp’s ‘Frippertronics’) and Urheim’s more grounded guitar. There are some moments where the music seems to struggle to find its way, as if the musicians are being too polite, not wanting to impose their will, but for adventurous listeners this album will provide an intriguing journey into unexplored musical territory.