Monday, September 12, 2016

Nautilus: Infrablue

Nautilus: Infrablue (Two Rivers)
Hayden Chisholm (as) Jurgen Friedrich (p) Robert Lucaciu (b) Philipp Scholz (d)
Jurgen Friedrich Robert Lucaciu Philipp Scholz

Over the last couple of months Infrablue has been on pretty regular rotation.
The music is unhurried which could lead some to miss the subtleties that unfold throughout. The key for me is the conversational approach to the ensemble as a whole which leads to a well-balanced group sound with no single voice dominating the album. Overall I would place the sound as understated, subtle,  intimate, warm, somewhat introverted and at times, there is a feeling of vulnerability. Occasionally things get ramped up like on "Armageddon" although it doesn't feel out of place. 

The compositions are shared amongst Chisholm (4), Friedrich (3) and Lucaciu (2). During the last couple of listens I have concentrated on Hayden's tunes. "Star Shepherd," "Inward Expansion" and "Love Rush" are on the new box set that I am slowly making my way through (most recently I've been listening to The Void Between Us and Sisyphus Runs). The latter two tunes feature duo passages between sax and piano that I have been enjoying. "Fly" must be his most recorded composition (one of my favorites) and it's great hearing artists revisiting compositions over time with different (or the same!) personnel. I think it helps listeners associate a body of tunes with an artists as opposed to an endless string of compositions. The trend seems to be to write tunes, record them, tour and then put them aside and move onto writing a new batch of compositions for the next project. Anyway, before I get too far off topic..... Nautilus played at the 2015 Jazzahead festival and video of their performance is up on Youtube.

I got my copy of Infrablue (along with the download) from Bandcamp.


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