The musicians who donate the first two or three letters of their surnames to make up "Jøkleba" will all be known to aficionados of the ECM label and to followers of Nordic jazz.
Trumpeter and vocalist Per Jørgensen has credits including Michael Mantler and Jack Bruce. Drummer and electronica creator Audun Kleive has worked with Terje Rypdal, Arve Henriksen and Arild Andersen, and pianist Jon Balke also worked with Andersen in one of the great European jazz bands of the past 30 years, Masqualero. Jøkleba is quite different from most of these associations, however, and for the uninitiated their spontaneous music might best be filed under "approach with caution". Outland, their fifth album but their first for ECM, certainly requires patient listening but its eerie minimalism, fidgety rhythms, scary calls, sombre chords and spare, simple piano melodies can be fascinating and create a signature haunting atmosphere, reflecting the theme of troubled artists - including Sylvia Plath- whose works are referenced in tracks such as the oddly charming Bell Jar.
Rob Adams
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