Search - Trygve Seim :: Different Rivers

A powerful debut

greg taylor | Portland, Oregon United States | 07/13/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"CDs like this give me hope. This is a debut (I believe) CD by this young (31 years old) Norwegian saxophonist. What we hear is music of surprising depth with a very individual sense of the overall group sound.
The other night I was privileged to hear the debut of a piece by David Schiff written for the Miami String Quartet and Marty Ehrlich on the saxophone. One of the many wonderful things about it was the way the five musicians would start or end phrases so together that there was a sense of just one instrument being played- the overtones of the individual voices would resonate together like one breath. Seim writes that same way and the musicians on this disc are more than up to the challenge of the music. One of the reviewers below said that this music lives in the space between chamber music and jazz. That is very apt. The melodies are stately, engaging and are presented in a wide variety of orchestrations. There are duos with just Seim on various saxophones and Arve Henriksen on the trumpet or the trumpophone. Henriksen has a wonderful tone and is the standout instrumentalist on this CD besides Seim. The other pieces are orchestrated for up to 10 instruments. Seim handles that mass of sound beautifully.
Speaking of tone, the sound that Seim gets out of his soprano on the piece, For Edward, is very beautiful and wierd. It almost sounds like a shakuhachi. Seim does not do a whole lot of bravura playing on this disc but when he does he displays ample chops and (I keep going back to it) a beautiful sound.
One of the surprises to me on this CD was that I had heard of none of these people. Shame on me that there are musicians of this caliber out there that I know nothing of. (I can only blame the Bush administration:)
In any case, the others are Harvard Lund on clarinets, Nils Jansen on the bass saxophone and contrabass clarinet (did I mention that Seim's soundscape has bottom?), Hild Sofie Tafjord on the french horn, David Gald on the tuba, Morton Hannisdal or Bernt Simen Lund on the cello, Stian Cartensen on the accordian and Per Oddvar Johansen and/or Peal Nilssen-Love on the drums. Sisel Endresen delivers the recitation on Breathe. I guess I am occasionally the cynic that the reviewer belows mentions because how I feel about this recitation is dependent on my mood. However, the music for this piece is perfect- rich, deep and sonorous. Like the Miami String quartet/Marty Ehrlich performance I mentioned earlier, these guys play almost like they are one being breathing in and out together. With this mass of horns, the effect is even more stirring.
This is an album that I recommend you take a chance on. I did, based on the reviews below (thanks to both Yuri and Dennis). I am looking forward to his new release which features his other group The Source and a string quartet, the Cikadas. In the meantime, go for this one. For my ears, Different Rivers is the best new ECM release in years."

Quiet and powerful...

Yuri Kuzyk | Toronto, Ontario Canada | 08/24/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Seim appears to be ready to take the torch from Dave Douglas for most intresting work being done with wind instruments. This album is a bit different with tracks powered mainly by wind instruments such as Seim's saxophones and many others like trumpet, clarinet, french horn and tuba. I am quite impressed with this album since the tracks are almost all original compositions. There is a bit of an Eastern European folk sound mixed into the generally calm musings. Not to say this is some sort of quiet muzak, all tracks demand careful listening with the complex interplay of the musicians. Seim is sure to be a rising star, I hope he does some touring to North America soon."

ECM is Fresh Again: Breathing Reeds - Some Stately Themes

J. Winokur | Denver, CO USA | 04/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Trygve Seim's music is ethereal and entrancing. His ensembles of 10-12 musicians focus on reeds and horns, including several in lower registers -- from bassoon/contrabass bassoon, tenor/soprano/bass saxophones, trumpet, accordion, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, and tuba. There is often cello and percussion as well.



The music is seamless, rising and falling gradually, like the great seas.... or more aptly, like flowing rivers It may be a drawback for some that there is not a strong sense of tension dramatically releasing within a single piece. The joy is in the lovely, breathy harmonies and subtle movement, and the surging moments of transcendence that emerge.



This is not primarily improvisational music. So some will think of the music more as 'modern classical' than as jazz. Those who love the extraordinary, crystalline recordings of ECM ("Editions of Contemporary Music") will find enchanting sound and music here. Compared with Seim's Sangam, which I purchased at the same time and have similarly reviewed, this would be my preferred choice. But either one is worth hunting up and buying.



Seim's ensemble was enthusiastically received at the 2007 Portland (OR) Jazz Festival, much of which honored Manfred Eicher's pathbreaking ECM label; ECM has just passed 1000 releases. Of this concert, critic John Kelman has written: "Is this jazz? ... Does it matter? Seim may not swing, but his unconventional group moves with a rhythm all its own. There's little that relates to the blues roots of American jazz, but there are plenty of blue colors all the same."



Agreed. Worthy of listening!"