Encounters

Encounters is a study in subtlety. Bassist Sigurd Hole, known for his work with the famously restrained jazz pianist Tord Gustavsen, distills elements from Nordic folk, jazz and Western and Indian classical music down to a spare musical lexicon. Sketch-like compositions provide snatches of melody that briefly bubble up between passages of meandering improvisation. Recognisable styles are suggested at but something truly familiar is always out of reach.

Hole has chosen his fellow wanderers well. Drummer Jarle Vespestad's use of hand drums deepens the album's stripped-down sound-world. Violinist Håkon Aase proves equally adept at the Eastern-inspired melodies that are more prevalent on the earlier tracks, as well as the folk-based material that features throughout, often moving between the two in a single phrase. The final track, ‘Road Song’, is a standout. A lolloping groove propels the piece as if on a wheel that is not perfectly round. Aase's violin flirts with a country twang but pulls back to provide atmospheric swells as Vepestad splices wordless vocalisations with a primeval beat. Unsettling but intriguing.