Food (Iain Ballamy & Thomas Stronen)
Release Date: 05 November 2012
Label: ECM
Packaging Type: Jewel Case
No of Units: 1
Barcode: 602537094400
Genres: Jazz Electronic
Description
For its second album on ECM, the Food duo of Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and British saxophonist Iain Ballamy continues to invite guests to bring something to the table. Their guests for Mercurial Balm are guitarist Christian Fennesz and trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær - both previously around the table for Quiet Inlet - plus, on three different tracks, Indian slide guitarist and singer Prakash Sontakke and Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset. The party produced, in Iain Ballamy's words, "a strange mix of musicians and musical genres", but it's a compelling mixture.
The form-and-texture conscious improvisations here are drawn from live performances in Victoria National Jazz scene in Norway and the Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and sessions at Oslo's Rainbow Studios. To the latter group belong 'Chanterelle', the title track of 'Mercurial Balm', and 'Magnetoshere' on which the slide guitar and vocals of Prakash Sontakke are partnered by Eivind Aarset's atmospheric guitar and electronics. The first half of the album finds Food augmented by Austrian guitarist Christian Fennesz, taking further the experiments with layers of sound begun on Quiet Inlet. Nils Petter Molvær joins Strønen, Ballamy and Fennesz for the slice of 'Moonpie'. The whole album was mixed at Rainbow Studios by Jan Erik Kongshaug and Manfred Eicher.
Food's priorities, the emphases upon melodic playing, textural development and the creating and exploration of sound-environments, shape the contexts for these improvisations. The acoustic aspects of Food's music, with drums, percussion and lyrical saxophone, are again enhanced by the use of electronics as a structural element. The scope of expression runs "from minimalist to very turbulent". They like to surprise - themselves as much as the listener.
Personnel: Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion, electronics), Iain Ballamy (saxophones, electronics), Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics), Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics), Prakash Sontakke (slide-guitar, vocal), Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet - 6)
Tracklisting
Norma Winstone & Kit Downes
Oded Tzur
Kenny Wheeler, Lee Konitz, Dave Holland & Bill Frisell
Fred Hersch
John Taylor, Norma Winstone & Kenny Wheeler
Keith Jarrett & Jan Garbarek
Jan Garbarek Quartet
John Surman
Jonn Serrie
Tangerine Dream
Catpack
Chihei Hatakayama & Shun Ishiwaka
Parra for Cuva
Prefuse 73
Klaus Schulze
Daphne Guinness
