Sunna Gunnlaugs

“Long Pair Bond”

(Sunny Sky Records 728)

Sunna Gunnlaugs (born 1970, full name Sunna Gunnlaugsdottir) is an Icelandic pianist and composer who lived and worked in the USA for a number of years following her studies at New Jersey’s William Paterson College. During her time in the States Gunnlaugs worked with many of New York’s leading musicians including saxophonists Tony Malaby, Loren Stillman and Ohad Talmor and bassists Drew Gress and Eivind Opsvik.

Gunnlaugs has now returned to her native Iceland where this latest album, her seventh, was recorded. “Long Pair Bond” is her first record in the piano trio format for a number of years and features her American born husband Scott McLemore on drums and fellow Icelander Thorgrimur “Toggi” Jonsson on bass.

Gunnlaugs cites the American piano greats Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett as key influences but she is also drawn to the Scandinavian lyricism of Bobo Stenson and Jon Balke. On first listening “Long Pair Bond” seems to draw primarily on European sensibilities but the inclusion of instrumental versions of songs by Rufus Wainwright and Ben Harper stems directly from her time in the USA. McLemore contributes three tunes and Jonsson one in a varied and interesting programme of ten selections.

The album opens with Gunnlaug’s title track, her piano playing initially sparse and ruminative but expanding into a more encompassing lyricism. McLemore’s drumming is colourful, quietly energetic and full of detail. He coaxes an impressively broad array of sounds from what looks like a relatively small kit as Jonsson’s deeply resonant bass anchors the trio.

Gunnlaug’s liner notes acknowledge the harmonic and aesthetic influence of Stenson on the spacious “Thema”, which she describes as a “musical decoration for poetry”. Based around just two chords the piece allows Gunnlaugs plenty of room in which to improvise- or “paint” as she describes it. McLemore’s role is essentially textural and his mix of shimmering cymbals and mallet rumbles adds essential colour to the piece as Jonsson again keeps things firmly grounded.

The bassist is allowed more freedom on Gunnlaug’s “Autumnalia” and responds with aplomb with a dexterous and deeply resonant solo. The pianist’s own solo positively flows and she owns up to appropriating the bass line from “Message In a Bottle” by The Police and inserting it into the melody of “Autumnalia” but you do need keen ears to spot it.

McLemore’s “Elsabella” is a tribute to the couple’s two daughters and amalgamates their names into one. Musically it begins in abstract fashion with interior piano scrapings and suitably atmospheric drums and bass. However a charming, almost na?ve melody subsequently emerges around which bass and piano improvise collectively, underpinned by brushed drums. Jonsson impresses with a lengthy spell in the foreground, his tone huge and supple and a good foil to the lyricism of Gunnlaugs. The piece eventually comes full circle and ends as it began.

“Crab Canon”, originally written for Gunnlaug’s duo with guitarist Andres Thor begins in similar fashion with McLemore’s hand drums prominent alongside the pianist’s dampened strings. Like the earlier “Thema” the piece stays in one harmonic colour but the feel is very different with an insistent left hand vamp and subsequent bass line providing the jumping off point for Gunnlaug’s expansive improvising. It’s one of the most forceful and immediately accessible tunes on the album.

Jonsson’s lovely “Fyrir Brynhildi” also possesses an instant appeal. A dedication to his own young daughter the piece has a beautiful, folk tinged melody which allows the composer plenty of room to demonstrate his considerable solo skills, often driving the melody itself. Gunnlaugs’ own contribution is supremely lyrical as McLemore sits back and provides unobtrusive brushed accompaniment.

McLemore’s “Safe From The World” maintains the reflective mood with his subtly detailed drumming, sometimes with bare hands, and Jonsson’s rich bass undertow providing the springboard for Gunnlaugs’ gently expansive lyricism. The piece first appeared on McLemore’s solo album “Found Music”.

Gunnlaugs’ says of Ben Harper’s “Diamonds On The Inside” “it’s simple harmony provides a nice space for us to explore and the recurring pentatonic hook breaks up the sections and ties the whole thing together”. Whatever the technicalities it’s a lovely piece with a strong melody that does indeed provide the framework for some sumptuous playing.

McLemore’s final contribution is “Not What But How”, like “Elsabella” in 3/4 and with a similarly appealing melody that provides the jumping off point for a highly impressive Jonsson bass solo, arguably his best of the set. Gunnlaugs also impresses with a typically elegant solo as McLemore deploys a variety of brushes and sticks to provide colour, detail and punctuation as he does throughout the set. 

The album closes with the trio’s version of Rufus Wainwright’s “Vicious World”, a song that Gunnlaugs first heard when she was living in Brooklyn. If the interpretation of the Ben Harper stuck relatively faithfully to the original then this is altogether more abstract, stretching the fabric of melody and meter. The conclusion of the piece features Jonsson making brief but tantalising use of the bow.

“Long Pair Bond” has garnered a good deal of critical acclaim for it’s combining of an archetypal Scandinavian lyricism with a low key sense of musical adventure. The album is definitely European in feel and although readily accessible and easy on the ear there are lots of interesting musical ideas and delightful small details lurking beneath the pleasant exterior. If the album has a fault it’s that it’s all rather one paced and overly polite. A little more variation in mood and pace would have enhanced the enjoyment for this particular listener.

Having said that there is plenty here to enjoy, particularly for fans of ECM style piano jazz and followers of Radio 3’s Late Junction programme. When submitting this CD review for review McLemore cited similarities between his group and the trios of ECM pianists Julia Hulsmann and Colin Vallon which may give potential listeners some idea of what to expect.   

 

 

blog comments powered by Disqus