Alex Ventling - 2025 - Wavemakers

(50:36; Particular Recordings)






















Track list:
1. Tracking 6:47
2. Omaha 5:03
3. Trondheim I 6:27
4. Trondheim II 4:48
5. Traces 1:07
6. Trondheim III 5:57
7. January 4:29
8. Spiral 8:51
9. Four Refractions 7:07

Line-up:
Alex Ventling - piano, synthesizer
Tuva Halse - violin
Amund Stenøien - vibraphone
August Glännestrand - drums, programming
with:
Sissel Vera Pettersen - vocals


Composer and musician Alex Ventling is a New Zealand artist who is currently based out of Norway. As a solo artist he has three studio productions to his name, and as the first of these appeared as recently as in 2023 one might expect a lot more to come from this international jazz artist. "Wavemakers" is his third and most recent album so far, and was released through the Particular Recordings Collective in December 2025.

This is an album recorded in Norway and with mainly Norwegian musicians from what I can see, and it is an album that comes with what I'd describe as more than a little bit of Scandinavian type melancholy. Much due to the input of violinist Tuva Halse, whose delicate, wavelike and fleeting impulses provide a frail presence with a distinct melancholic to mournful expression of the dreamladen variety throughout.

These are generally applied to a foundation where Ventling's elegant, wandering and controlled piano is the common denominator, and where the interactions between these two defining  instruments always stay elegant, occasionally with a little bit of a playful edge too.

We do get some exceptions to this general type of landscape too. A couple of compositions are side steps into a more minimalist and expressive type of environment for starters, we get one song where the vibraphone is highlighted into a more dominant position that expands the boundaries of the tapestries explored here too, and the captivating and arguably groove-oriented bass and piano conclusion on 'Trondheim III' may be the most striking passage on this album as a whole. But as far as exceptions goes, the more minimalist, haunting and world music flavored 'Omaha' strikes me as being the most captivating and interesting composition on this album as a whole. In this case very much due to vocal performance and delivery of Sissel Vera Pettersen.

If you enjoy easygoing and elegant mainly instrumental jazz where floating and flowing textures in wavelike patterns is the common denominator, and enjoy artists exploring such landscapes that takes the occasional side step into a more minimalist and expressive territory, then this most recent studio production of Alex Ventling may well tickle your fancy. Especially if moods and atmospheres with a bit more of a melancholic intent is something you tend to enjoy.

Olav M. Björnsen, March 2026

Links:
https://www.alexventling.com/
https://www.particularrecordings.com/

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