Trygve Seim

Helsinki Songs

ECM

Like his older fellow countryman, Jan Garbarek, the Norwegian saxophonist Trygve Seim has a distinctive, instantly recognisable sound.

Since making an immediate impact with his award-winning ECM debut as a bandleader, Different Rivers in 2001, Seim has tended to shy away from the standard jazz quartet. He has found one to work with here, however, and in the Estonian pianist Kristjan Randalu in particular he has introduced his followers to a special talent.

Randalu’s always melodic, ever exploring style is a delight, especially on the dancing Randalusian Folk Song, where the Finnish drummer Markku Ounaskari also opens up, and on this and several other tracks the group, without following it slavishly, calls to mind Keith Jarrett’s Scandinavian quartet, with bassist Mats Eilertsen anchoring the sound perfectly.

The gently rocking Helsinki Song and the plaintive Sorrow March, with their processional qualities, might have come from Seim’s glorious, larger scale Sangam project, and while the latter track initially lives up to its title, there’s a real uplift in its resolution. Seim cites influences and inspirations from Igor Stravinsky and Coco Chanel to Ornette Coleman and Jimmy Webb here but the net result is very much his own.

Rob Adams