This trio unites Swedish drummer Måns Wikenmo, known for his group Gordon, and trumpeter Ivar Hedén, who plays with the jazz-folk quintet Adeln, with Italian pianist Emanuele Maniscalco, known for his Third Reel trio that already released two acclaimed albums on the ECM label. All three met while they were studying at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, but this is their first recording as a trio.

This digital-download only release is a set of 13 miniatures, 21 minutes long, that sketches sonically the ambivalent, daily search for for peace, contrasted with the desire to experience the world.

This cycle of miniatures begins with a typical, lyrical Nordic jazz piece, «Astronaut», but the following ones avoid any attempt to categorize them in any common, familiar soundscapes. The trio present elegant, delicate and subtle micro-compositions with fleeting moments of improvisations. As on another trio of Maniscalco, the one with reed player Francesco Bigoni and Guitarist Mark Solborg that released its beautiful debut album on ILK earlier this year, this trio also builds a chamber, fragile atmosphere. There are few solo pieces like Hedén impressive «Små och två» and Maniscalco meditative and elegiac «Parentes», but most of these compositions feature the trio deep and attentive interplay and its rich palette of sounds. This trio aesthetics distills the themes moving essence and its precise nuances, nothing less and nothing more.

Beautiful and demands a following, this time in a more expansive format.

Eyal Hareuveni

Emanuele Maniscalco (p); Ivar Hedén Turesson (tp); Måns Wikenmo (dr)