Danish, Aarhus-based pianist Kasper Staub debut solo piano EP stresses the aesthetics of the local Jaeger Community Music label and collective of musicians. The latest releases of this label by the quartet Frekvens Frekvens and trumpet player Jakob Sørensen Bagland quintet, and to a lesser extent by bass player Jens Mikkel Madsen’s I Think You’re Awesome sextet, highlighted a distinct Nordic sound. These releases reference the melodic, lyrical and often the impressionistic sound of the ECM school of many Nordic releases, but at the same time highlight strong, individual voices.

Staub released before an impressive piano trio album «Havenpladen» (2014) and is known from his work with the indie quintet Lowly and Katrine Stochholm from the Under Byens group. His new EP,  «Aisle Arch Atti», feature nine short pieces, 23-minutes long, all composed spontaneously in the studio and recorded directly on a reel-to-reel tape recorder.

These pieces sketch concise and focused cinematic sceneries and narratives. These contemplative, pieces may enhance images of silent, deserted nature, but also echo times of soft or dark light, times of emotional distress, even act as meditative pleas for better times. The cover photo of American photographer Jim Sinock strenthen these suggestive veins.

Beautiful and impressive.

Eyal Hareuveni

Kasper Staub (p)