COMPOSERS: Phronesis
LABELS: Edition
ALBUM TITLE: Phronesis: Life to Everything
WORKS: Life to Everything
PERFORMER: Jasper Høiby (bass), Ivo Neame (piano), Anton Eger (drums)
CATALOGUE NO: EDN1050
This is the fifth disc by jazz powerhouse trio Phronesis and fans and newcomers certainly won’t be disappointed. Recorded at the 2013 London Jazz Festival, it’s the first live disc to feature the longstanding trio (drummer Eger was absent on 2010’s Alive). Recording live is core to the group as it captures the sense of quick-fire succinctness that is key to a Phronesis concert. For this recording they deliberately set up the band on stage with sightlines facing each other, heightening the sense of instantaneousness.
From the outset, on ‘Urban Control’, the intricate, syncopated bass lines of Høiby underpin the frenetic drum groove of Eger, while elsewhere the spirit of leaderlessness ebbs and flows, as Neame’s spiralling piano lines join the action. ‘Herne Hill’ showcases the trio’s fleeting moods – as meditative moments give way to latin-charged rhythms. The 'in the round’ recording technique works a treat throughout.
Neil McKim