Meadow

Blissful Ignorance Edition *****

Meadow is three superb musicians: Norwegians Thomas Strønen (drums), who founded Food with Ian Ballamy, and Tore Brunborg (tenor), and the UK's John Taylor (piano). The trio instrumentation echoes ECM's lovely Remembrancelast year, with Brunborg, Ketil Bjornstad and Jon Christensen. However, while Meadowis just as understated, Strønen and Taylor (a totally different pianist to Bjornstad) make it a more assertively interactive group. But the dialogue, even at its most spacious, remains intimate and lyrical, with Brunborg, who wrote six of the nine pieces, particularly nourished by the piano-drums rapport. The trio is in arresting form throughout, notably on the pastoral grooves of Blissful Ignoranceand the playful Meadow, a multicoloured Badger and Taylor's compellingly otherwordly Ritual, all beautifully recorded at Oslo's famed Rainbow Studio. See editionrecords.com