Lake

Monoman125

Berlin-based Swedish bassist and producer Petter Eldh returns with a new Koma Saxo album Post Koma, out on We Jazz Records, 10 November. The title Post Koma aptly describes the vibe of this one: The Koma Saxo sound continues its evolution, morphing into a holistic vision of jazz now and soon, where live instrumentation and repurposed sampling lose their boundaries.

Over the course of its three iterations (self-titled debut in 2019, LIVE in 2020, Koma West in 2022) Koma Saxo has sounded at times "liquid" and postproduced, at times raw and direct, at times acoustic and at other times oddly electronic (even while still being made with acoustic instruments). Post Koma is a culmination of this sonic study by Eldh, resulting in a music vision that never second-guesses throwing tasty hooks and everlasting melodies out the window after a mere bite of them. But fear not: there are even more new ideas just around the corner.

Eldh's compositions and ideas merge together in a way that just flows. There are quality musicians in the mix, including Koma Saxo live band members Sofia Jernberg, Jonas Kullhammar, Otis Sandsjö, Mikko Innanen, Maciej Obara and Christian Lillinger, but that's like saying that a cake includes flour and sugar. This music is not about playing, it's essentially about how the music is and how it takes its shape, so you quickly lose track of who did what, and that's all in the benefit of encountering this music as an entity that is constantly challenging itself while moving forward. The musicians are valued contributors, and an integral part of what's here, but this is far from traditional jazz playing where a band sits in a room playing takes after takes of compositions on sheet.

That being said, this is jazz to the fullest. That is, music that understands its past but always moves forward, and is never afraid of taking risks. Petter Eldh uses jazz as a starting point, not the end goal. This gives his music edge and mobility beyond what can be contained on one album. In a way, an album, then, becomes a snapshot of a creative process in constant flux and evolution.

Opening track "Koma" is literally drum & bass. It only consists of those two elements, yet what comes out of it is an open invite, a way of clearing your palette. It would be useless to describe individual tracks beyond that, but there's a strong sense of deliverance to the set. It feels like an ending, and also like a new beginning.

Natt Koma

Mittenmelodin I Erzeben Koma

Koma

Mengi

En vertu du temps passé
Nous sommes là
Accrochés aux cimes
Ne regardant pas l'abîme
Donnant prise au vent
Tentant un énième envol
Les rapaces jamais loin
L'aigle royal scrutant notre chute
Vautour puissant gardant nos corps encore vivants
Oiseaux célestes nous deviendrons
Et ensemble mon amour
nous parcourrons les terres inconnues
que nous rêvions d'explorer

Musique: Hughes Devos (bugle), Christophe Seval (synthé), Olivier Taskin (batterie) et Antonin De Bemels (groovebox)
Poème: Shantala Pèpe
Mixage et mastering: Antonin De Bemels
Image: Stéphane Jossart

D'octobre

Accrochés aux cimes

The Swiss trio divr debuts on We Jazz on 2 February with their new album "Is This Water". divr is Philipp Eden on keys, Jonas Ruther on drums and Raphael Walser on bass, and they play largely acoustic improvisations which loops without ever quite repeating. Their music swings, but never feels like it’s doing so in response to a fixed, single pulse. The new album is edited by Dan Nicholls (of Y-OTIS).

“We play in multi-directional time. You could hear three different timings, but on the other hand it’s together. We land in the same place. It’s not done with maths, it’s more about entering a flow”, say the band members, based in Basel (Eden) and Zurich (Ruther, Walser), the city where they all met more than 15 years ago.

“It’s a free approach to playing time. We don’t refer to a straight metre. But play around it. We never repeat something exactly, it develops with every turn, there’s always a small difference.”

Their music is elegant in its intricacy while covering a wide dynamic range. Opener "As Of Now" begins with languid chords on the piano, bass and drums skimming over the surface offered by Eden. Later comes a rush of energy, the piano briefly switching into more jagged terrain before peeling back. From there the album journeys through different intensities, rising and falling in smooth arcs as if you’re hearing their conversation move from gentle pleasantries to more heated discussions.

"Is this Water" presents a band who's heading into a direction of their own, crafting pieces out of improvising together and tapping into a natural brand of instant composition. Nicholls' edits and post production give the music another layer, one drawing from field recordings and layered textural ideas. Together, the elements form a sound that feels personal, organic and forward-reaching at the same time.

Mengi

We Jazz

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