Uma Elmo

Approfondimenti

Uma Elmo is Danish guitarist and composer Jakob Bro's fifth date as a leader for ECM. To mark the occasion, he introduces us to a luminous new trio composed of Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy. Produced by Manfred Eicher, it was recorded in Switzerland over two days during the summer of 2020 pandemic summer. The title is drawn from the middle names of Bro's two young children. He composed all nine works here; some of the newer material was penned between his son's naps. The sense impression of that particular situation is pervasive on Uma Elmo.
"Reconstructing a Dream" is a resurrected version of a tune Bro wrote and recorded during his tenure with Paul Motian's band; it appeared on the guitarist's The Stars Are All New Songs, Vol. 1. Its halting intro is offered by fingerpicked electric guitar and muted high notes from Henriksen. It establishes the trumpeter as the tune's melodic centerpiece -- a central role for him throughout. Rossy's brushed snares and cymbals emerge haltingly as the lyric instruments entwine. During its final third, Henriksen’s simple improvisations become more complex, floating above turbulent drumming and overdriven guitar and electronics. "To Stanko" is an almost magical tribute to the late Polish trumpeter and bandleader Tomasz Stanko, who Bro worked with on Dark Eyes in 2009. Henriksen's whispered lyric delivery and bare-bones harmonics hover as Bro's beguiling guitar lines trace those statements with lacy, fingerpicked chords; they're underscored by Rossy's brushed, syncopated tom-toms. Penned in 1998, "Beautiful Day" is humid, virtually edgeless. It consists of a series of slightly atonal lines articulated by Henriksen. Rossy adds shifting accents throughout as Bro paints with sonic EFX across the backdrop before joining Henriksen up front during the gorgeous final section. There are two versions of the shimmering "Morning Song" included. The first tune the trio played each morning, Bro included both just as they were captured, sans overdubs. "Housework" is the set's longest and most abstract work; it feels freely improvised, but its deliberate pauses, warm, liquidy sound bleeds, and tapered, overlapping harmonic lines reveal otherwise. "Music for Black Pigeon" was titled after many thought-provoking conversations about music between Bro and the late Lee Konitz. A signature Bro work, it emerges seemingly from the ether, employing sound itself as a body. Texture and shadow combine with angular melody lines adorned by percussive and ambient space in sumptuous, ever-evolving combinations. Henriksen is especially probing, querying his bandmates then enfolding their answers into new collective statements. Uma Elmo is so inviting it is tempting to embrace it just for its graceful, dark, meditative beauty. But it requires careful, attentive listening to decipher and decode the intricately layered communicative balance of composition, improvisation, and deliberate textures.

© Thom Jurek /TiVo