A fixture down the years at the Copenhagen club Jazzhus Montmartre, pianist Jacob Christoffersen is here with the very Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen-like bassist Thomas Fonnesbæk - whose Danish Rain with Justin Kauflin we loved last year - and drummer Rasmus Kihlberg.
Largely Christoffersen tunes
Bluesy, occasionally gospelly flavoured and very melodic into the bargain they prove.
Accessibility is the name of the game. It's not edgy nor does it pretend to be which would be worse if the daringness isn't felt nor - for that matter - needed. There's a refreshing absence of pseudery.
There's a cover of Danish soft rock band Gasolin' 1970s song 'Hva' gør vi nu, lille du?' ('What do we do now, little one?') made Chistoffersenian.
Plus not so essential given how high the bar is set in terms of versions - Ben Webster's is the greatest in jazz incidentally by a country mile because it's as if the great saxist believes in the song more - a treatment of 'Danny Boy' - a song that speaks to the heart rather than just the soul.
If you want to see and hear what the song can do in a non-jazz version more Showband singer treatment to people simply giving everyone the chills hear the great boxer Barry McGuigan's dad Pat sing the song at a big boxing match in the 1980s. Now that's a pick your jaw up off the floor version and-a-half.
The great weepie was also recently covered by Pat Metheny on Moondial - and Metheny's is a much better version than A Good Day's given its uncanny sense of stillness.
Tone domain
It's reasonable to claim that the drummer here is fairly unobtrusive (that's neither a criticism nor a sly put down) - it's just his role.
But the bassist isn't. With Christoffersen the role of Fonnesbæk is very significant given the way the tunes have a lot of intricate harmonic underpinning and tonally he is the beating heart of the recording.
Copenhagen born Christoffersen, 57, has been Sinne Eeg's pianist since 2008 and has collaborated down the years with such icons as Tain Watts, Peter Erskine and Kenny Washington.
Convincing
Albums of Christoffersen's in recent years include a tribute to the great Swedish jazz singer synonymous with Bill Evans, Monica Zetterlund, in a collaboration with singer Cathrine Legardh. These A Good Day originals are more than decent and make sense when listened to together. Again, the big question: would I choose to see this trio live on the basis of this album given half a chance? Obviously, given some of the thinking above - with the originals the main focus to cling on to and cock an ear to most.
Comentarios