Credits:

Arild Andersen Group

Description:

Norway's leading bassist Arild Andersen's first new release on ECM in three years is from a new quartet group. The new quartet with saxophonist Marius Nesset, pianist Helge Riene, and drummer Hakon Mjøset Johansen recorded at Oslo's Rainbow Studios in November 2021, but due to Norwegian travel restrictions, Manfred Eicher was not able to participate, The recording was made only with the musicians. On the second day of recording, Andersen suggested a group improvisation. Without planning anything, we recorded the first part, which lasted about 23 minutes, and the second part, which lasted about 14 minutes." This extended musical arc became the new focus of the album. Affirmation Part I and Affirmation Part II are unedited and their improvisations are included in full, and the album is completed by Andersen's composition "Short Story." The quartet has given quite a few concerts and often played together, but we've never done a full set of just improvisations before. The idea of listening before playing was very important on this album, and we all came up with ideas where interaction was the focus. I named this album Affirmation. Free improvisation was, of course, part of Andersen's working methods, such as the Triptykon project with Jan Garbarek and Edward Vesala, and the energetic interactions in Sam Rivers' trio in the early 1970s. Now his new group is also challenging in its own way, subtly finding and shaping form on the fly. For the convenience of the listener, index points are given where the music takes a new direction. However, the best way to hear "Affirmation" is to follow it from the beginning. [Personnel] Arild Andersen (double-b) Marius Neset (ts) Helge Lien (p) Hakon Mjaset Johansen (ds)

Tracklisting:

1.One (Affirmation Part I)
2.Two (Affirmation Part I)
3.Three (Affirmation Part I)
4.Four (Affirmation Part I)
5.Five (Affirmation Part II)
6.Six (Affirmation Part II)
7.Seven (Affirmation Part II)
8.Short Story