This mouse obviously considers himself mighty but he does not bother to roar much or make any other noises too often. The Copenhagen-based trio The Mighty Mouse – Danish pianist-leader Morten Pedersen, Swedish double bass player Thommy Andersson and Norwegian drummer Håkon Berre (who plays in Pedersen 5tet), releases an album about every five years. The self-titled debut was released on 2007, two years after the trio began playing together; the «Live At Glenn Miller Café» was released on 2012 and in 2018 the «Or the man from the river» was released, all on the Copenhagen-based label that Berre founded, Barefoot Records.

This mouse does not attempt to revolutionize the modern Nordic piano trio format, and clearly follows the footsteps of legendary piano trios of Swedish Bobo Stenson and Canadian Paul Bley. The Mighty Mouse introduce to their original compositions a refined sense of irony and a natural gift to tell a nuanced story with few statements. The music, like in most Nordic piano trios, is calm and reserved, using space and silence as essential ingredients, but, still, high spirited.

But within the Nordic piano trio legacy this mouse insists that it has an independent voice of his own. Not mighty as expected as this album lasts only 32 minutes, still, a clear voice. The interplay of the trio is egalitarian and organic and flows gently, with no sense of urgency. There is no need to rush to «Meet the Guru», as the opening piece suggests, and patience is essential as the last piece, «The Long Game», recommends. There is also no reason to get excited on «In Spades» or later with the «Panda Parade», just to enjoy the calm, natural groove. Accordingly, «Home of the Not So Brave» sounds as the most un-nationalistic and non-militant theme, open to improvisations and shifts in its pulse. The trio does not surrender itself easily to folk melody on the beautiful and lyrical «What Was Left of a Folk Song». The dark and melancholic «No. 8», with its breath-taking mysterious beauty, is the most Nordic sounding piece here, lingering in memory long after it is gone.

Eyal Hareuveni

Morten Pedersen (p), Thommy Andersson (b), Håkon Berre (dr)