All Things Equal is the sophomore album of the Amsterdam-based modern jazz quartet led by young, Israeli-born double bass player-composer-arranger Omer Govreen (of Michael Moore Quartet and Ziv Taubenfeld’s Full Sun), and featuring Slovenian-born vibraphonist Aleksander Sever, Dutch pianist Floris Kappeyene, and drummer Wouter Kühne (who plays in Kappeyene Trio), following Maya (JMI-8, 2022). The album was recorded at Reservoir Studios in New York in January 2024.
Govreen composed the music in December 2023, «in the dark Dutch winter», reflecting the horrors of October 7 and the following war in Gaza, and aiming at «Bringing light and reducing the numbness one feels when there’s too much bad news and constant lack of Sunshine».
The seven pieces cement this quartet as a cohesive, working band that employs sophisticated harmonic structures not only as an aesthetic but also as a statement, intensified by the album’s title and the quartet’s collective interplay. All Things Equal radiates an introspective and humble, often melancholic and lyrical, peaceful, and compassionate dynamic. Govreen, with his precise, warm touch and his reserved solos, is the natural leader of the quartet, and he enjoys the intuitive interplay of his close soul mates. Govreen hopes that this album will bring some peace, «even if only momentarily,» as it lasts for only 33 minutes.
Eyal Hareuveni
Omer Govreen (double bass), Aleksander Sever (vibraphone), Floris Kappeyne (piano), Wouter Kühne (drums)
