JACOB ANDERSKOV: Strings, Percussion & Piano

Danish label ILK, founded by musicians from the fertile Copenhagen scene in 2003, has been defiantly modernist in its output; those with a taste for the avant-garde will find it worth checking out. Pianist

Jacob Anderskov

is one of the label’s founders, and his ILK recordings have ranged from a quartet of American heavy-hitters to a duo improvisation with Brazilian percussionist Airto Moreira. Here he steps into the contemporary classical arena with a set of his own compositions for string trio, piano and drums. The title seems to acknowledge the influence of Béla Bartok and, like the great composer, there are borrowings here from folk music, as well as pot-stirring improv from Anderskov and drummer

Peter Bruun

. Recorded in Oslo’s fabled

Rainbow Studio

, the sound is pristine, the playing polished and the result engrossing.

[ ilkmusic.com ]