Shushiki Archive

Atmospheres – Tigran Hamasyan & others- ECM (2 CDs)

by Audiophile Audition | Nov 15, 2016 | Jazz CD Reviews

Atmospheres (TrackList Follows] – Tigran Hamasyan/ Arve Henriksen/ Eivind Aarset/ Jan Bang – ECM (2 CDs) 2097442724 (9/9/16) ****: (Tigran Hamasyan – piano/ Arve Henriksen – trumpet/ Eivind Aarset – guitar/ Jan Bang – live sampling) An airy journey with ECM. The cover photos and titles of ECM records are chosen with deliberation. They are a reliable entry point into the music of this legendary label. Here we are treated to Atmospheres, by Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henrickson, Eivind Aarsat, and Jan Bang. In this image, we are high over an indistinct mountain range. Light falls away below to the West. Mist shrouds an endless range of ridges with nothing more than a river to break the monotony. If we are in a balloon, we are quite cold by now; but a plane seems out of place for a trip that seems to have a  meteorological purpose. We can guess that this might be music of heights, air, and clouds, and so it is.  In fact, from the first measures, we doubt whether we shall ever descend. It may be necessary to suspend for the duration the memory of a place where life happens and people act for good or evil. […]