Lis Wessberg - 2024 - Twain Walking

(44:42; April Records)

Track list:
1. Birds 4:20
2. Posterity 5:39
3. Behind the Walls 3:46
4. Clouds 6:00
5. Anthem 2:40
6. Tapestry of Life 3:52
7. Like a Sparrow 3:06
8. Two Track 5:33
9. Twain Walking 5:40
10. Ripples 4:06

Line-up:
Lis Wessberg - trombone
Steen Rasmussen - Fender Rhodes, Moog, synthesizers, piano
Lennart Ginman - bass, electronics
Jeppe Gram - drums
with:
Karmen Roivassepp - vocals


Danish artist Lis Wessberg is a well established and well known musician both in her home land as well as in jazz circles internationally, although her focus appears to have been to be a musician rather than a creator for most of her career. For the past few years she has also expanded her repertoire into becoming a proper solo artist, with two solo albums to her name so far. "Twain Walking" is the most recent of these, and was released through the label April Records in the spring of 2024.

I was delighted with the music I encountered on Wessberg's first solo album when that CD came my way a while back, and while very much a jazz album I chose to review that production for the progressive rock website where the majority of my long form reviews are published. Not because I found that initial album to be inside of a progressive rock sphere, but rather because the sounds and impulses were of a kind I thought might be of interest for that audience.

In my view this most recent album by Wessberg has a bit more of a strict jazz orientation though, or perhaps a better description might be that the material and the soundscapes explored on this occasion may not be quite as alluring for people with a more defined taste for music that exist inside of the progressive rock and progressive metal vein. A matter that isn't a critique, but rather an observation.

I found myself really mesmerized with the landscapes that are explored on "Twain Walking", with the slower paced and dreamladen landscapes that unfold here comes with a subtle but striking beauty where floating keyboards, elegant wandering piano motifs and a careful and often dampened trombone presence come together to create otherworldly landscapes that might be a suitable soundtrack for the realm of Morpheus. More often than not backed by a rhythm section well aware of their jazz sensibilities and balancing being visible, supportive and expressive in a fine and elegant manner. Bringing in a guest vocalist on a couple of tracks works very well too, and singer Roivassepp has a voice and a timbre I suspect many will find extremely pleasant, charming and alluring.

For my taste in music there is still one clear highlight I'd like to point out on this strong and compelling creation though, and that is the song 'Tapestry of Life". This is the one song where the tempo is higher, the arrangements are firmer and the drive, momentum and energy all are much more vibrant. Jazz with a bit of a dirty undercurrent one might say, or the kind of song that documents that jazz as a form of music can be both sexy and give associations towards the more intimate parts of life and the pleasures that come with that part of existence. If such sentiments were ever in the mind of the creator is, of course, a different matter. But as a listener those are the associations I get, and as a reviewer those are also the thoughts that merits a verbal description.

I was really impressed with Wessberg's first solo album, and while a bit different in sound and scope the second time around I find this latest solo album by Wessberg to be equally or perhaps even more impressive as a total experience. If dreamladen, elegant and otherworldly jazz is an interest of yours, this is a production you should take the time to become more familiar with.

Olav M. Björnsen, May 2024

Links:
https://www.liswessberg.com/
https://aprilrecords.com/