Eivind Austad Trio - Explore (2024) [Hi-Res]

This is an exploring album. The well-known format of the piano trio is a point of departure exploring in composition and improvisation what a piano trio also can be. And how it can sound. There is an opening to these explorations, one can hear musicians stretching musical ideas into something barely known if not the unknown.

Eivind Austad has given himself restrictions when composing or he has searched for inspiration, tools, ideas and musical elements from a number of sources, so as to challenge himself creatively. The resulting ideas and sketches have then been worked with by the whole trio, collectively developing the compositions. The album is rich in musical ideas, and explores both tonal, rhythmical, and sonic dimensions, often simultaneously. At the same time there is a simplicity to the musical ideas, as if they are built up from fragments. The interaction between the musicians is a testament to how they clearly know each other musically, whole it also sounds like they collectively have agreed to explore the very format of the piano trio. Where Austad’s recognizable melodic playing is often in the forefront, the different musical elements move between the players, they all contribute melodies. It is a cliché to describe a piano trio as all musicians contributing to one musical entity, but this cliché at the same time can say something about how to listen to these musicians cocreating.

Listening to “Exploring” it feels like a parallel to seeing a three-dimensional object; it can be turned around, vied in multiple perspectives. The same is here done in sound, the instruments pulling in different or similar directions, making the music sound multidimensional, as if what is foreground and what is background can change in the act of listening. The exploration of the album as a whole also comes about in how composition and improvisation coexist; it hardly makes sense to ask about the difference between these elements. The result of the collective creation is an example of a music from strong individuals with inspiring musical voices, but seemingly devoid of ego.

Erik Steinskog, October 2024