Danish, Copenhagen-based pianist-composer Rasmus Kjær Larsen was involved with solo organ works, synth-based projects, and avant-jazz collaborations. His new album, Underlake, marks a return to the chamber piano trio and a reaffirmation of his deep roots in jazz improvisation, atmosphere, and exploratory composition.

Kjær’s trio features Swiss, Geneva-based reed player Nicolas Masson (known for his ECM albums, who also took the cover photo) and drummer (and producer and sound engineer) Noé Franklé. The album was recorded just before the end of Kjær’s one-year residency in Switzerland, at Phonotope Studio in Renens, Switzerland, in July 2023.

Underlake was conceived during Kjær’s one-year living near Lake Geneva. Its six sparse, lyrical, and intricate compositions explore the emotional and physical resonance of water – how it shapes us, sustains us, and seeps into every aspect of life. Kjær uses his own unique 7-tone mode on four pieces. Its patient and gentle, wave-like variations charge the album with its harmonic identity. Masson and Franklé were perfect partners for this exploratory, inquisitive, and deep-listening journey, which aligns with the ECM school of Nordic jazz.

The opening piece, «almost weightless», sets the album’s dark, melancholic spirit, evoking a sense of being underwater. This piece was inspired by an imaginative practice passed down by Kjær’s former teacher, the late American pianist Butch Lacy, who asked Kjær to picture himself floating in a lake, listening for tones rising from the depths like bubbles. Kjær took this literally and composed this piece while floating in Lake Geneva. Two pieces offer more traditional song forms but still relate to water, cementing the album’s dark yet beautiful atmosphere. – «adrift», and the last, «Ondine in Silhouette», were inspired by the mythical water nymph who lures sailors with her siren song.

Eyal Hareuveni

Rasmus Kjær (piano), Nicolas Masson (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet), Noé Franklé (drums)