Moksha - Embracing (2024) [Hi-Res]

This trio, featuring guitarist Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir, percussionist and vocalist Sanskriti Shrestha, and percussionist Tore Flatjord, produces a distinctly unique blend of jazz, Indian Raga, atmospheric improvisation, complex rhythms, textured expressionism, and spacious sonic architecture. Jonsdottir's guitar, whether electric or acoustic, fluidly digs, climbs, weaves, strikes, hums, and sparkles throughout, whether dancing across jazz chordal improvisation, or rapidly chasing down what can only be described as Nordic gamaka runs. The layers of percussion provided by Shrestha and Flatjord drive the music forward, upward, or quietly create changing dimensions and shifting soundscapes. Shrestha's vocal contributions range from sung melody to vocal percussion, adding unexpected colouring and textural transitions to these evocative compositions. The music is meditative and contemplative, each track making a journey that is emotional, intellectual, and spiritual in equal measure. It rarely sits still, yet feels elegantly unified. There is strength, fragility, drama, tension, serenity, and even agitation to be found amid structures that move seamlessly between the gently undulating and the angular. This is a confident and inspired debut that delivers much and promises more for the future.

Jonsdottir and Shrestha's credentials are exemplary, and these have recently been augmented by their inclusion in Bugge Wesseltoft's 2016 edition of his New Conception of Jazz. Flatjord has worked on many diverse projects, including Dr Kay, Kjetil Jerve Trio and Mongrel.

Tracklist:
1.01 - Moksha - Floating (4:37)
1.02 - Moksha - Entering (5:31)
1.03 - Moksha - Playing (4:07)
1.04 - Moksha - Breathing (4:46)
1.05 - Moksha - Drumming (2:51)
1.06 - Moksha - Summoning (5:49)
1.07 - Moksha - Liberating (3:44)

Floating, taken from their forthcoming second album, shows how the palette has been expanded, both as a trio and as individuals. Their session, recorded in Newtone in January, featuring some selected guest musicians, does not feel overloaded with references. On the record's seven tracks, the trio alternates between their own experiences with Indian, Norwegian, North and West African music, in addition to good old-fashioned jazz rock and the occasional noisy freak out. It is easy to get lost in such a list of ingredients, but perhaps it’s simpler to say this: Moksha is Sanskriti Shrestha, Oddrun Lilja and Tore Flatjord. The music they play is the sum of their shared experiences and it kicks.