COMPOSERS: John Surman
LABELS: Meantime Records
ALBUM TITLE: Karin Krog & John Surman
PERFORMER: John Surman (ss, bs, bcl, contrabcl, p, synth), Karin Krog (vc)
CATALOGUE NO: NA 9909010-9909120 (distr. New Note)
While Pat Metheny’s writing speaks of life in the North American Midwest, Norwegian vocalist Karin Krog and English multi-reeds player John Surman make a uniquely North European form of jazz together. This dreamy selection, newly recorded but taken from different stages of their nearly 30-year association, reveals a strong thread of folk roots in an otherwise unclassifiable sound.
Krog alternates between an almost ‘torchy’ timbre and an electronically treated, icy vocalise; Surman, voluble on bass reeds, provides luminous backlight with clever synth effects. Even when a blues surfaces, it seems blue as a result of Nordic chill.