By John Schu
Since this is the debut recording of the Stockholm based double bassist Lind it is highly unlikely that most people reading this article will have any knowledge of him; I had none when I received this recording. This saxophone trio recording is not only excellent for a debut; it is outstanding by any standard. Lind composed all of the eight interesting and memorable pieces that constitute the CD; and there is not a weak tune among them in terms of composition, execution, and soloing. The record is also a good example of fine jazz performance blurring the distinction between arranging and interaction among the trio members. The interaction between the members often creates very interesting contrapuntal results, and it is highly likely that the members played the material together often enough to have a good sense of the others’ ideas and how to respond to them.
Despite good execution in his infrequent use of the thumb position, Lind displays many of the virtues of focusing bass playing in the lower two octaves of the instrument He also uses arco to extremely good effect on “Sweet Dreams”. His colleagues also perform very well, drummer/ engineer Peter Danemo is always the right amount of busy with a very musical sense on his kit, and saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist never solos to the point where he becomes no longer interesting, and almost never functions as a scale runner. The tunes are never overly stretched out.
Lind’s group has made a CD worthy of repeated listening that is much better than the work of many more famous musicians in this format; hard core jazz fans who like saxophone trios should be sure to hear this.
Link to Jazz Times:
https://jazztimes.com/articles/26027-wintergames-kristian-lind-trio