Jacob Anderskov - Strings, Percussion & Piano (2013)

HHHDanish label ILK, founded by musicians from the fertile Copenhagen scene in 2003, has been defiantly modernist in its output; those with a taste for the avant-garde will find it worth checking out. Pianist Jacob Anderskov is one of the label’s founders, and his ILK recordings have ranged from a quartet of American heavy-hitters to a duo improvisation with Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. Here he steps into the contemporary classical arena with a set of his own compositions for string trio, piano and drums. The title seems to acknowledge the influence of Béla Bartok and, like the great composer, there are borrowings here from folk music, as well as pot-stirring improv from Anderskov and drummer Peter Bruun. Recorded in Oslo’s fabled Rainbow Studio, the sound is pristine, the playing polished and the result engrossing.

Tracklist:

01. Soil
02. Waldhorn
03. Impermanence I
04. Hungarian Conditions
05. Spring In B
06. Diamonds Are For Unreal People III
07. Post Industrial Stone Age

Personnel:

Jacob Anderskov - Piano
Peter Bruun - Drums
Christine Pryn - Violin
Anette Slaatto - Viola
Ida Nørholm - Cello