Martin Nodeland - Origins (2020)

“Origins” is Martin Nodeland’s second album. It is a musical work, a sound, an ensemble and an album, presenting a series of complex, yet sincere compositions, woven together in a most organic way. The album is punctuated by short interludes, featuring the string quartet, bass player Alexander Hoholm and tenor player Rastko Obradovic. These pieces briefly evoke the concert hall instead of the jazz club, and could comfortably fit on any contemporary chamber music concert programme. “Origins” harmoniously integrates both the rhythmic and melodic vocabulary of contemporary jazz music, with the instrumental textures of 20th-century chamber music.

All the music on this album has been repeatedly made and remade through a process that has lasted for a couple of years. The core idea was to extract musical elements from the playing of the musicians involved, and for those elements to be the foundation for composing. The source was a set of recordings with earlier material, played by the ensemble. The extracted elements were then used to compose these longer narratives and musical playgrounds, all originating from their respective musical element. That’s also the idea that gave name to the album, “Origins”. It fuelled an intention to create and evolve a musical space, in honour of, and for these particular great musicians, to do their thing.

The result is this unique organic blend of string instruments, woodwind, brass and percussion, collectively taking us on a journey through these gripping compositional universes. Rich with dynamics, contrasts, surprises, excellent interplay and improvisational dexterity.