Jacob Karlzon

MoreACT ****

A new generation of European jazz musicians is now busily cultivating the ground first uncovered by the late, lamented Esbjörn Svensson, and that new generation is probably growing weary of the comparison. No doubt this new sub-genre of the piano trio, with minimalist, Keith Jarrett-inflected piano solos over insistent grooves culled from rock and dance music, owes its popularity, if not necessarily its entire existence, to the late lamented Svensson, but the ecstatic electric jazz of Pat Metheny and Lyle Mays is also a reference point for Swedish pianist Jacob Karlzon’s epic sound.

Karlzon, here making his debut for the respected ACT label, thinks like a film composer, creating broad sweeping soundscapes which unfold like terrain, rising and falling, building intensity and ebbing away, always searching for that Metheny-esque moment of catharsis. Music for your next road trip – in a good way. jacobkarlzon.com