Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick is the third ECM artist to play a memorable gig at The Edge, following in the footsteps of pianists Tord Gustavson and Bobo Stenson. It’s wonderful to see artists of such high calibre in such a delightful rural setting and it is to be hoped that the Edge’s manager Alison Vermee will be able to welcome more artists from the ECM roster to Much Wenlock.

At 28 Eick is one of a new young breed of ECM signings. After appearing as a sideman on albums by Iro Haarla, Jacob Young and Manu Katche he released “The Door” his first ECM album as a leader in 2008. Away from the label he has been a key member of the unclassifiable Norwegian large ensemble Jaga Jazzist and more recently he collaborated with Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson on his critically acclaimed ACT release “Tarantella” (reviewed elsewhere on this site).

My first sighting of Eick was at the 2008 London Jazz Festival when he appeared at The Queen Elizabeth Hall in an ECM double bill (also reviewed elsewhere on The Jazzmann). First he played with Finnish pianist/harpist Iro Haarla’s ensemble before returning to the stage with drummer Manu Katche’s “Playground” band. I was impressed with his contribution to both groups and as a result was very much looking forward to seeing him leading his own group.

Alongside Eick “The Door” features pianist Jon Balke, bass guitarist Audun Erlien and drummer Audun Klieve. Stian Carstensen, best known as an accordionist, guests on selected tracks this time making a distinctive contribution on pedal steel guitar.

The quartet Eick brought to Much Wenlock included Erlien but featured Andreas Ulvo on piano and keyboard and Rune Arnesen at the drums. These two proved to be more than able deputies for the missing album personnel. The material included all the pieces on the album plus two more recent compositions. Eick is clearly in a rich composing vein at present and the music presented was generally of a very high high standard.

The quartet commenced with a segue of the tunes “December” and “Williamsburg” both drawn from the album. From the outset it was clear that Eick was more relaxed leading his own group than he was as a sideman at the QEH. He has an extraordinary tone on the trumpet ranging from a breathy, vocalised whisper to brassy, full-on trumpeting of extraordinary clarity. At the root of his sound there is a palpable Nordic quality that in jazz terms has it’s roots in the music of Jan Garbarek, the spiritual godfather of all the bright young musicians on a vibrant Norwegian scene. As a trumpeter Eick is the latest in a Scandinavian lineage that includes Nils Petter Molvaer and Arve Henriksen, both relative youngsters themselves. Henriksen is due to appear at Cheltenham Jazz Festival on May 3rd, a gig I hope to attend, so it will be interesting to draw comparisons. 

“December” began with Ulvo’s solo piano with Eick soon adding trumpet whisperings that owed something to Henriksen’s style. As Eick took up the melody he was shadowed by Erlien’s fluid electric bass. Initially I had been somewhat perturbed when Erlien first appeared toting a bass guitar. Invariably the instrument lacks the subtle, supple qualities of the acoustic double bass. However it would seem that Erlien is something of an electric bass specialist. Like the great Steve Swallow he immediately demonstrated his ability to turn the bass guitar into an expressive instrument and rarely played the obvious licks. I was highly impressed by his contribution throughout the evening.

Drummer Rune Arnesen also impressed as the tune gathered momentum. Deploying a variety of brushes, soft heads, sticks and his bare hands he proved to be a subtle colourist as well as a rhythmic force. His flexible contribution freed up Erlien to express himself on the bass. The two made a great team, whether laying down by turns a loping swing or a hypnotic groove that allowed Eick and Ulvo plenty of solo space or adding dashes of colour and texture as part of an integrated ensemble.

Following the quartet’s distinctive opening salvo came another segue of tunes from the album in the form of “Cologne Blues and “Fly”. Erlien led things off on the bass, liquid and languid above Arnesen’s funereal drumming. Eick’s trumpet slurred in authentically bluesy fashion before giving way to solo statements by Erlien and Ulvo. Eick then returned to the fray to solo majestically above some decidedly odd time signatures.

Arnesen’s busy, hard driving drumming and Ulvo’s block chords provided the bridge into “Fly”. Eick played side drums akin to timbales as Ulvo’s electric keyboard colourings developed into a fully fledged synth solo. I wasn’t convinced by this, it went on for too long and in part destroyed the distinctive atmosphere the group had so carefully created. I’ve no problems with the use of electronics in jazz per se and indeed the Eick group went on to deploy them far more effectively later in the concert. Here I just found it unnecessarily distracting and gimmicky.

The damage was quickly repaired by “Biermann”, an as yet unrecorded number which closed the first set. Electronics were used here too, but far more effectively with Arnesen opening the piece at the drums and Ulvo subsequently treating/sampling the drum sound by adding echo and other effects. The tune itself had an epic, soaring quality with some imperious playing by Eick,clear and pure in the upper registers. It was a powerful way to end a first set that on the whole had been hugely impressive.

The beautiful melody of another as yet unrecorded tune entitled simply “Edinburgh” opened the second half. It was a fine example of the lyrical qualities Eick displays both as a player and as a writer.

Like the young German trumpeter Matthias Schriefl (see elsewhere on this site) Eick likes to name tunes after places. Sometimes he chooses times of the year (December, October) or objects as in the following “The Cabin”.This was a feature for Ulvo who soloed on piano whist adding his own synthesiser embellishments. The young keyboard player proved an effective foil to Eick throughout the evening and filled the void left by the experienced Balke with aplomb. Nonetheless there were some amongst the audience who would have ditched the electronics altogether.

However the synth was put to good use in “October” which saw Eick put down the trumpet and join Ulvo at the keyboards. Eick stood and played synth as Ulvo played piano, the duo creating a delightful patchwork of interwoven patterns. With Arnesen improvising at the drums and adding colour by the means of brushes you could say they were painting in sound. More prosaically you hoped that Eick was wearing a good deodorant as the unfortunate Ulvo’s face was uncomfortably close to his leader’s armpit. He was probably relieved when Eick sat down to share the piano keyboard. In any event the tune itself was beautiful, like virtually all the other music we had heard thus far.

Like “October” the following"Stavanger” is also to be heard on the album. This featured another Ulvo excursion on the synthesiser but this was far more successful, being more concerned with nuance and texture than the previous outing. Eick’s brooding trumpet built upon the atmosphere in the second half of the piece.

“The Door” itself was almost a microcosm of Scandinavian jazz. With a folk like melody that could have come from a Garbarek record and an infectious groove reminiscent of E.S.T. this was a sure fire winner that delighted the rapt Much Wenlock crowd. Arnesen’s drumming was a model of controlled dynamism as he meshed with Erlien’s bass led groove and Ulvo’s insistent piano vamp.

Although not an overt showman Eick deploys the occasional judicious crowd pleasing gesture. I’d include the incidental percussion and the keyboard four hander amongst these. Here he concluded by directing the bell of his trumpet into the innards of the piano to draw both the echo and the audience applause. It’s an interesting fact that many of the ECM artists I’ve seen live have exhibited a musical playfulness and sense of fun that doesn’t always come across on the recordings.

The sell out crowd called them back for an encore, a delicate rendition of the traditional Finnish lullaby “Porvoo” also drawn from the album. I’d hazard a guess that it’s a tune he may have learned from Iro Haarla. This was quiet and ethereal, a total contrast to “The Door” itself but it was attentively received by a spell bound audience. 

Overall I had been extremely impressed by the Eick group’s performance. All four were technically brilliant and Eick is a talented composer with an eye for a strong melody which he cloaks in intriguing and distinctive arrangements whilst remaining very much part of the Scandinavian jazz aesthetic. At the same time this is music that sounds utterly contemporary. Eick is surely due to become a major figure on the international jazz scene.

A friend who was at the gig emailed me to say he thought Mr Eick was “a bit special”. I think most of us who were there would happily concur.

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