by Colin May
June 21, 2026
/ LIVE
The trio are all mightily talented individuals but it was the multi-layered interaction between the three that was the greatest delight.
Arild Andersen, Rob Luft and Daniel Sommer Trio
St John’s College Auditorium, Oxford
13 June 2026
Arild Andersen - Double Bass
Rob Luft - Guitar
Daniel Sommer - Drums
The story of how this distinguished trio of equals came about is told in Ian Mann’s review of their one album so far ‘As Time Passes’ (2024)
https://www.thejazzmann.com/reviews/review/arild-andersen-daniel-sommer-rob-luft-as-time-passes
The trio play a style that can be broadly described as European chamber jazz featuring structured improvisation. Their concert, the last in a short UK tour, consisted entirely of originals except for the encore with all three contributing compositions, one of which Rob Luft said that he had finished just a few days before. The trio did play some tracks from the album but most of their set was comprised of tunes they had not recorded together as far as I know, although they may have recorded them in other contexts.
Rob Luft is known for his sensitive use of effects but Arild Andersen also seemed at times to use effects. I say ‘seemed’ because from where I was sitting I couldn’t quite see. He opened the concert with a solo that sounded rather like he was actually playing a guitar and had heavy reverb and bent notes. But it is very possible that this was just pure skill on his part.
Andersen now into his eighties played seated on a high stool and, seemed to use sheet music throughout. In several fluid solos he showed he still is a virtuosic pizzicato player of the double bass. He has a reputation too as a noted arco bass player, and I was a little disappointed that in a concert in which the double bass was so prominent that he didn’t play arco once.
Over the course of the concert Luft, with his bank of effects pedals, created a myriad of textures using trills and reverb , his guitar in effect a kind of synthesiser. When it came to the album title track ‘As Time Passes’ he made his guitar sing over Anderson’s double bass playing, just single pizzicato notes while drummer Sommer sat out, which Luft then developed into rivulets of sound. His palette encompassed fragile chord voicings, delicate sheets of sound and there was passage in Sommer’s composition ‘Meditation’ where he ‘wigged out’ but in a quiet way appropriate to the set and the setting. I found his playing engaging but from comments after the show not everyone was as enamoured.
The least well known of the trio, at least in the UK, Danish drummer Daniel Sommer was a revelation. Arguably he quietly outshone his better known colleagues. He had a wonderful touch on all elements of the kit but as he explained to Tim Larsen of the Jazz Views website he is “not interested in playing long flashy drum solos” but is more concerned with “the interplay, the empathic communication, and creating music as a band together”.
He certainty showed this to be true during the concert. At times his head was swivelling from Anderson to Luft and back again like he was watching a tennis match, as he listened intently and interacted with them. He held everything together, but his contribution transcended that of a support role and was at the very least the equal of the others.
Sommer also composed one of the most beautiful numbers with a title that Luft struggled to pronounce and I struggled to spell. Sommer indicated it was a reflection on summer but one that opened rather pensively. The other number by Sommer in the set ‘Meditation’ saw Andersen playing double bass contemplatively but then broken phrasing and Luft ‘wigging out’ suggested that this meditation involved quite a bit of inner turmoil.
In one of Luft’s contributions ‘Echoes of Silence’, the echoes were surprisingly busy with Luft leading off with some reverb guitar and Sommer pushing on quite energetically in the latter part.
‘The Angel’s View’, the number Luft finished just a few days before, was, he said, inspired by David Lynch T.V series ‘Twin Peaks’. With his guitar at it most synth like, it did echo the mysterious and rather menacing tone of the original music.
One thing nearly all the numbers had in common whether predominately energetic or more contemplative was that they ended quietly sometimes with a witty twist in the final notes.
The one number not composed by one of the trio was the encore, a slightly too lush version for my taste of Ornette Coleman’s ‘Lonely Woman’.
Ahead of this the set had been brought to a conclusion with Andersen’s lively ‘Saturday’ with Andersen’s double bass dancing and Sommer’s drums rattling along. It was the most rumbustious the trio got all night.
The trio are all mightily talented individuals but it was the multi-layered interaction between the three that was the greatest delight, and far outweighed my one or two criticisms. It was a master class in close listening and responding with Sommer a revelation. I don’t know how much was improvised but the result was a real treat, and most deservedly the three were very warmly cheered and applauded at the end.
Many thanks to Patricia Wilding and Phil Powell for bringing this trio to Oxford and for making this a not for profit gig.
Set List (Not 100% complete and accurate)
Little Song (Andersen)
Echoes of Silence (Luft)
Electra (Andersen)
Maria’s Song (Andersen)
?
Farenoj (Sommer)
The Angel’s View (Luft)
Meditation (Sommer)
As Time Passes (Luft)
Saturday (Andersen)
Lonely Woman (Coleman)
COLIN MAY