Mats Eilertsen - Rubicon album review: loose-limbed, folk-inflected ensemble sound

Bassist Mats Eilersten is a consummate “side man”, open- minded and musically omni- vorous.

His supporting roles on the ECM label have included recordings with the Food Trio, guitarist Jacob Young, and pianist Tord Gustavsen.

The Norwegian’s debut as leader for Manfred Eicher’s label sees him assemble his own dream team of side men, including saxophonists Trygve Seim and Eirik Hegdal, guitarist Robert Dahl, vibra- phonist Rob Waring, pianist Harmen Fraanje, and drummer Olavi Louhivuori.

Eilertsen’s writing for this talented septet draws on their varying personal- ities and different timbral poss- ibilities to create a suite of music that is less about individuals (although there are fine solo con- tributions from Seim, Hegdal and Fraanje) and more about a loose- limbed, folk-inflected ensemble sound.

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