Emil Brandqvist Trio - Layers of Life (2023) Hi Res

he Emil Brandqvist Trio is meanwhile an established major on the European Jazz Circuit that chalks up ever-greater popularity with each album. For instance, this rising tide has led them to a No. 3 ranking on the German Jazz Charts. It’s uncanny how Swedish drummer and composer Emil Brandqvist together with Max Thornberg on double bass and Tuomas A. Turunen on piano, his constant partners in the trio for six albums now, make their way across audiophonic worlds equally imbued with poetry and metaphoric imagery. It can be justifiably affirmed that this trio is among the few in Europe that have found their very own and from audiences enthusiastically acclaimed sound.

The opinions are unanimous that the new album, “Layers Of Life”, can be viewed as a zenith in their creative work until now. As the title implies, 13 new songs penned by Emil Brandqvist convince via intricately layered arrangements, and yet they have such a catchy ring to them. On “Solitude”, one of the central pieces on the album, pianist Tuomas A. Turunen from Finland is credited as co-author. It has readily evolved into a solid tradition that Brandqvist asked the Sjöströmska String Quartet to join them in the studio again for several songs to enlarge the trio format into “wide-screen sound”. The invited guests towards enhancing such variegated worlds of sound also include Maija Kauhanen (kantele, voice and harmonium) and Emil’s brother Martin Brandqvist, who supplements point by point on flute, clarinet and bass clarinet. Emil himself doesn’t pass up the chance to set special accents by featuring a venerable Moog synthesizer.