Search - Trygve Seim :: Trygve Seim: Sangam

Bought this in February, and have worn the CD out

Fionn McGuire | Dublin, Ireland | 06/24/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I bought 'Sangam' by chance, because Trygve Seim doesnt enjoy the same word-of-mouth here as people like Tord Gustavsen and Tomasz Stanko do. It's a real pity because, with due respect to the above artists, this is the most wonderful thing released in recent years, slightly ahead of such albums like Christian Wallumrod's 'A Year from Easter' and Jon Balke's 'Diverted Travels'.



The most noticeable thing about 'Sangam' is the fact that the nine pieces play like one long piece, even though only four of them ('Himmelrand i Tidevand') are linked. As quoted in 'The Penguin Guide to Jazz on CD', in a review for Seim's 'Different Rivers', his interest is in the human breath. 'Sangam' is a work that shows the beauty of the capabilities of the human breath through acoustic instruments.



There is very little that one can say about such pieces as 'Beginning an Ending', 'Himmelrand i Tidevand' and pretty much the whole CD. I have found it very unlikely that I would just listen to one song on this CD. Sometimes I intend to, but before I know it, the whole CD has played, and it's not a short CD.



This is a CD that is definetely not for a limited variety of jazz fans, because it has such a large scope. I encourage classical fans to give this a try also, because it will definetely appeal to them. Of all the great CDs released in recent years, I love nothing more than this one."

Breathing Reeds -- Another Lovely, Moody ECM Voyage

J. Winokur | Denver, CO USA | 03/19/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Trygve Seim has emerged as a composer of note in Europe, and his music is entrancing. His ensembles of 10-12 musicians focus on reeds and horns, including several in lower registers -- from bassoon/contrabass bassoon, , tenor/soprano/bass saxophones, trumpet, accordion, clarinet/bass clarinet, trombone, and tuba. There is often and cello and percussion as well.



The music is seamless, rising and falling gradually, like the great seas. As another reviewer states, the entire album flows from track to track without seeming to change to a new composition. This may be a drawback for some -- there is not a strong sense of tension dramatically releasing within a short piece. The joy is in the breathy harmonies and subtle movement over the course of the pieces, and the subtly surging moments of transcendence that emerge.



This is not primarily improvisational music. So some will think of the music more as 'modern classical' than as jazz. Those who love the extraordinary, crystalline recordings of ECM ("Editions of Contemporary Music") will find enchanting sound and music here.



Seim's ensemble was enthusiastically received recently played at the 2007 Portland (OR) Jazz Festival, much of which honored Manfred Eicher's ECM label; ECM has just passed 1000 releases. Of this concert, critic John Kelman has written: "Is this jazz? ... Does it matter? Seim may not swing, but his unconventional group moves with a rhythm all its own. There's little that relates to the blues roots of American jazz, but there are plenty of blue colors all the same.""