Bringer of Light is the debut album of OMRUM, a new Copenhagen-based collective quartet (reflecting the sense of space in Danish), featuring four busy and sought-after musicians: Norwegian trumpeter Erik Kimestad (of Kresten Osgood Kvartet and Horse Orchestra), Danish trombonist Mads Hyhne (of Maria Faust Sacrum Facere), double bass player Richard Andersson (who released the album on his label, Hobby Horse Records), and drummer Jakob Høyer (of Jakob Bro’s trio).

The album was recorded over a beautiful January weekend on the island of Møn at the renowned Karmacrew Recording studio, housed in a renovated barn and heated by a wood-burning stove (and if you listen closely, you can hear the crackle of the fire). The album reflects the warm and cozy atmosphere of this unique studio, and the live recording in a single room without headphones.

The album offers ten compositions that capture the intimate, trusting dynamics of the recording session. Kimestad wrote six pieces, Hyhne wrote another one, and three more were short, collective improvisations. The music moves between an introspective, spacious, and poetic ambiance, quiet and patient explorations of textures that correspond with the familiar, reserved, and lyrical version of Nordic jazz, with a few sudden, short, intense outbursts. All pieces respect, often too much, the distinct individual voices and the collective sonic universe of the new quartet, as well as the surrounding space outside the recording studio. OMRUM already sounds like a working band of equals with a strong musical kinship, who share an independent sonic vision. Hopefully, in live performances, this fine quartet will attempt to push forward its aesthetics and take more risks.

Eyal Hareuveni   

Erik Kimestad (trumpet), Mads Hyhne (trombone), Richard Andersson (double bass), Jakob Høyer (drums)