Björn Meyer - Provenance (2017)

Due to its relatively young age, the bass guitar is still growing both physically and sonically. The instrument has long been treated with mistrust and even contempt in more traditional jazz circles where it is seen as a poor substitute for its larger, older brother. This makes ECM’s first release of a solo bass guitar album all the more welcome.

It is easy to imagine that the only people interested in a solo bass guitar project would be fellow bass guitarists. However, this would be to ignore some exceptional music created by the likes of Jonas Hellborg, Michael Manring and Skúli Sverrisson. On Provenance, Björn Meyer has taken the instrument in to more ethereal realms. He does this by exploring the bass guitar’s relationship to the acoustics in which it is performed.

The opening track Aldebaran is built on subtle and solemn harmonies. The sounds being created are almost unidentifiable as a bass guitar. Meyer creates textures which emulate the flow of the tide. The tone of the notes being created is fragile and passes through the ears like a gentle breeze.

Much of the compositional material is built around mournful arpeggiated chords. The appeal of the music is how Meyer goes on to manipulate these foundations and how the glacial changes in texture draw the listener in to a state of relaxation. The chord structures draw influence from the dark ambient and post rock genres. The problem with chords on the bass guitar is that they can sound too dense. However, the bass is beautifully recorded with great clarity between the notes.

Meyer does make use of driving rhythms on tracks such as Three Thirteen. The sliding noises between the notes which are normally undesirable in bass recordings become part of the composition. The squeaks sound like small animals rummaging around the great oak of a bass line. On Squizzle, the chords are aggressively strummed giving the piece its throbbing pulse.

The aptly titled Traces Of A Song, uses a distinctive melody line which is interwoven with subtle harmonies and countermelodies. Looped harmonics become the foundation to a series of notes which fall like raindrops on to its shimmering floor. Much of the emotional drama of the music comes through Meyer’s use of dynamics, occasionally bringing moments of joyous hope in to otherwise downbeat surroundings.

Meyer has taken a unique approach to composition for solo bass guitar. It is one that will move the instrument forward as much as it will move the listener emotionally. Provenance is a welcome edition to the catalogue of ECM and the canon of solo bass guitar recordings.