Rymden

“Space Sailors”

(Jazzland Records 377 977 8)

Bugge Wesseltoft – Grand Piano, Fender Rhodes, Moog Synthesiser, Celesta, Electronics
Dan Berglund – Double Bass, Electronics
Magnus Ostrom – Drums, Percussion, Electronics, Voice

First released in September 2020 “Space Sailors” is the second album release by the stellar Scandinavian trio Rymden, their collective name being the Swedish word for space.

The band, something of a Nordic ‘supergroup’,  features the Swedish musicians Dan Berglund (bass) and Magnus Ostrom (drums), together with the Norwegian keyboard player and composer Bugge Wesseltoft.

“Space Sailors” follows the trio’s 2019 début “Reflections & Odysseys”,  a highly accomplished recording that is covered elsewhere on the Jazzmann. The following paragraphs outlining the history of the Rymden trio are sourced from that review;

Berglund and Ostrom are best known to jazz audiences as the long serving rhythm section of e.s.t., the ground breaking trio led by their compatriot, the great pianist and composer Esbjorn Svensson.

Formed in 1993 and signed to the German label ACT e.s.t. became the biggest jazz act in Europe, achieving near pop star status in many countries. They made substantial inroads in the UK, US and Australia too, and were still exhibiting signs of artistic progress when Svensson was tragically killed in a scuba diving accident in 2008, aged just forty four.

Both Berglund and Ostrom remained with ACT following the tragedy and both subsequently recorded their own groups for the label, Ostrom working under his own name and Berglund leading the co-operative quartet Tonbruket. Both achieved considerable critical and commercial success.

Meanwhile Wesseltoft is celebrated for his 1990s/2000s ‘New Conception of Jazz” ensemble which fused jazz with the dance beats and DJ culture of the time. Also an accomplished acoustic player Wesseltoft has recorded solo piano albums for ACT and has collaborated with many of Norway’s leading jazz musicians including saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Arild Andersen, guitarist Terje Rypdal and trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer. He has also recorded several albums as co-leader with the experimental vocalist and composer Sidsel Endresen. Wesseltoft is the founder of the Jazzland and OK World record labels and is one of most influential figures in contemporary Norwegian music.

The initial idea for the trio came from Wesseltoft, who had often been on the same festival bills as e.s.t. Wesseltoft and Berglund subsequently worked together in Trialogue, a project that also featured the Berlin based electronic musician Henrik Schwarz.

Following Svensson’s death both Berglund and Ostrom made a point of avoiding the piano trio format and also elected to spend time apart from each other, in a professional sense at least. It was only after a ten year interim that they felt able to re-unite as a rhythm team and to do so in what is ostensibly the piano trio format.

However Rymden’s sound is very different to that of e.s.t.  It places a greater emphasis on electronic keyboards and rock rhythms, a reflection of the new trio’s shared prog rock heritage, a history that embraces the influence of Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Rush plus jazzier offshoots such as Billy Cobham, and particularly Weather Report. Not that e.s.t were strangers to electronics, those influences also fed into their music, particularly with Berglund’s heavily distorted arco bass solos, which became something of a group trademark.

The influence of Weather Report and of fusion era Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea are detectable in Rymden’s sound but the trio have also cited the influence of more contemporary acts such as Armenian pianist and composer Tigran Hamasyan and the Swedish math metal band Meshuggah, plus numerous other contemporary metal and hip hop acts.

This time round the trio have made reference to an even more eclectic range of influences, ranging from Chopin through Krzysztof Komeda to Fugazi and doom metal.

The Rymden trio introduced itself to the UK jazz audience with a well received set at the Queen Elizabeth Hall as part of the 2019 EFG London Jazz Festival, which included the bulk of the material heard on their début album. My review of that performance can be read as part of my Festival coverage here;
http://www.thejazzmann.com/features/article/efg-london-jazz-festival-day-seven-thursday-22nd-november-2018/

In May 2019 they appeared at Cheltenham Jazz Festival. I didn’t cover that event but reports reached me from those that were there that the trio had ‘upped their game’ even further and were in terrific form.

Rymden is very much a collective and collaborative exercise with all three members providing compositional input to the group repertoire. “Space Sailors” also finds them expanding their sonic palette with a wider range of keyboards and electronic effects. Tellingly all three musicians receive a credit for “electronics”.

“Space Sailors” also benefits from the fact that Rymden had got around seventy concerts under their collective belt before recording,  helping to give this second album a more spontaneous and organic feel and a stronger and more distinctive collective identity. Individual writing credits are not listed on the album packaging. However in an interview conducted by Jazzwise magazine Wesseltoft did list the specific pieces that had developed out of group improvisations.

Throughout “Space Sailors” Rymden deliver a highly successful synthesis of acoustic and electronic sounds. A case in point is the opening “The Life And Death Of Hugo Drax”, named for the Bond villain, which commences with a delightfully filthy sounding bass riff, which forms the backbone of the piece. Not that the performance lacks variation as the trio embrace a variety of metric and dynamic variations, including a more contemplative section mid tune, just prior to the final, barnstorming pay off. Wesseltoft’s acoustic piano contrasts well with Berglund’s electrified bass and Ostrom’s sturdy, rock influenced drumming. Wesseltoft is the featured soloist, but its the rhythms that really drive the tune.

“The Spacesailor” is also propelled by a monstrous bass riff and similarly powerful and insistent drumming. There’s an almost motorik drive to the rhythms as Wesseltoft weaves a beguiling web of colours and textures courtesy of his array of keyboards. Wesseltoft has spoken of his love of vintage ‘Krautrock’ and that’s very much in evidence here, even when Berglund and Ostrom momentarily slow the pulse.

“Sondan” is more reflective, the bass and drum pulses slower, the keyboards more contemplative, a mix of acoustic and electric sounds, with the sad chording of the grand piano adding an air of pathos to the proceedings.

“Terminal One” has also been released as a single, thanks to its of clipped, propulsive, hip hop informed rhythms combined with infectious piano, and even bass, melodies. There are also passages where Ostrom’s ear catching beats come to the fore. It’s a little like an updating of the e.s.t. legacy.

“Terminal One” is one of the series of pieces developed by the trio during the course of live performances and sound checks. This also applies to “The Final Goodbye”, which is rather confusingly scheduled right in the middle of the album. Ostrom again lays down an industrial style beat, augmented by pounding bass and metallic sounding electronic textures. Wesseltoft’s acoustic piano provides a humanising influence, but still buys in to the overall atmosphere of the piece – dark, sinister,  insistent, unsettling. A brief episode of contemplation only serves to emphasise the power of a brutal closing section, leavened only by Wesseltoft’s piano solo as he surfs the gargantuan rhythmic wave churning below.

“Pilgrimstad” maintains the predominately dark mood, an eerie, grainy, melancholic bowed bass interlude that acts as an overture for the two part “Arriving In Ramajay”, another piece forged in the crucible of life on the road.
“Part 1” is also relatively brief, an all acoustic palate cleanser that sees Wesseltoft’s piano motif steadily ascending, before finally declining once more, backed by more or less orthodox jazz bass and drums.
“Part 2” announces itself with a sinister synthesised throb, before building implacably, with Wesseltoft skilfully deploying a range of keyboards to drape a glittering starlight tapestry over the march of the fractured bass and drum beats. Wesseltoft then moves to the Moog to unleash a grandiose, spiralling wall of sound that simulates the majesty of a great church organ. It’s a huge, towering sound, undeniably very ‘prog’, and none the worse for that. Only the most curmudgeonly of prog nay sayers could fail to be impressed.

“The Actor (Gonzo Goes To Pasadena)” also builds from a throbbing pulse, this time courtesy of Berglund’s bass, with Ostrom kicking in to create a solid groove as Wesseltoft sculpts layers of sound on keyboards. This is followed by a passage featuring staccato, odd meter time signatures before reverting to something relatively straight-ahead once more. This provides the platform for Wesseltoft to solo more expansively on Fender Rhodes. There’s also something of a feature for the excellent Ostrom as Wesseltoft’s keyboards take over those staccato rhythmic duties.

Unaccompanied acoustic piano introduces “My Life In A Mirror”, which is suitably reflective and demonstrates a more introspective and lyrical side of the trio. The melody is one that Esbjorn Svensson himself would have been proud of, and Wesseltoft is eventually joined in duet by the melancholy sound of Berglund’s bowed bass. In time the music gathers momentum as the trio develop the melody to almost anthemic proportions, with Ostrom adding both drums and a soaring wordless vocal. Incidentally does anyone else remember Ostrom’s singing on the track “Mohammed Goes To New York” on the very first e.s.t. album “When Everyone Has Gone”, released on the Swedish label Dragon in 1993?

“Free As a Bird” features driving drum rhythms, a propulsive piano motif and the synth like swirl of Berglund’s heavily treated bowed bass. Wesseltoft’s keyboards subsequently take over with a mix of sounds, including still pounding piano and the sprightly dancing of of organ like synthesiser.

The album concludes with “Sondan Outro”  a reprise of the earlier track that represents a musical visit to the chill out lounge.

“Space Sailors” finds Rymden continuing to develop. The tunes combine an e.s.t. like immediacy with a high degree of musical sophistication. Wesseltoft handles his bank of keyboards with the skill of a master orchestrator, conjuring a rich mix of colours, textures and rhythms from the resources at his disposal.  The long standing rhythm team of Berglund and Ostrom combine as effectively as ever and display a hugely impressive command of contemporary rhythms. The mix of acoustic and electric sounds beguiles throughout to create music that is capable of appealing to a broad swathe of listeners.

It’s not a jazz record as such, but nevertheless improvisation continues to play an important role in Rymden’s creative process. Once again the trio don’t shy away from their prog rock influences, but there are more contemporary inspirations at work here too, particularly in the use of hip hop and dance rhythms, these perhaps a reflection of Wesseltoft’s past and his “New Conception of Jazz”.

Following the success of their first album there has been very little critical backlash against Rymden, and on the whole “Space Sailors” has been very well received – and rightly so.

Hard core swing or bebop fans may turn up their noses – as they probably did at e.s.t before them – but anyone raised on prog (like myself) or just sympathetic to the jazz developments of the last fifty years should find something to enjoy in Rymden’s music. Adventurous rock listeners should find plenty to enjoy here too.

Rymden hope to get back to touring as soon as the pandemic is over and the live environment is an excellent place to appreciate the skills of this excellent trio. Rymden shows are energetic and entertaining and the trio don’t take themselves too seriously – it’s great music and great fun, with these qualities shining through on “Space Sailors”.

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