A mysterious sounding record made in Gothenburg last year that really does not fall into any meaningful bracketing easily. While Swedish bassist Anders Jormin is a distinguished jazz player Pasado en claro isn't really a jazz release at all. The approach instead factors in Swedish traditional music courtesy of singer and fiddler Lena Willemark and crosses continents to utilise the ancient sound of the koto played by Karin Nakagawa, the collective work of the quartet anchored unobtrusively by Swedish drummer Jon Fält, a player, who again like Jormin, has a fine jazz pedigree. The album puts the work of Mexican writer Octavio Paz (1914-1998) centrestage for the chief reason that the album title is the same as a long autobiographical poem by Paz. Willemark's voice is the real guide to the heart of the approach. And while the outcome is often cleansingly beautiful it may well prove most meaningful only from a Swedish folk perspective. Out on 20 January.
Jon Fält, Lena Willemark, Karin Nakagawa, Anders Jormin, photo: Magnus Bergström. 'Blue Lamp' is streaming
FURTHER READING AND LISTENING:
- Trees of Light (2015)
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