Georg Graeve, Kjell Nordeson, Jon Raskin Trio - Live at NIR Studios (Temescal Records, 2021) ****

By Flavio Zanuttini

Nowadays we are used to the streaming concerts. It was not so common before COVID-19, but now it seems like almost every musician on earth, professional or not, had to try this new way of performing. We can say it's a hybrid situation between the studio recording and the live concert: you don’t know how many people will listen to your music (like in studio recordings), and you have just one take, like in live concerts. You don’t have any feedback from the audience and you don’t have the possibility to make a second or third take or to choose which track to publish.

Here is something quite close to this situation, but coming from the past (more precisely, 2009). Jon Raskin performed three live-streamed concerts at NIR Studios in Oakland for the internet radio sfSound curated by Matt Ingalls, and for the third show the line up was Jon Raskin, Georg Graewe and Kjell Nordeson, which was recently released in March 2021 on Jon Raskin bandcamp site.

The music of this trio is amazing, well balanced with a constant tension flowing throw a big range of dynamics. The five tracks show pretty well how the three musicians can respect other’s space and silence but can also grow on dynamics, they are very reactive on what happens musically and this immerse the listener to a scenario that can change really fast but always in a natural way.

Graeve, Nordeson and Raskin explore all the possibilities of this ensemble giving space to solos, duos and, of course, a trio. They have different musicality that fits together in a complementary way: Raskin is the one who pushes more the tonal possibilities, Graeve on the other side is doing an intense work on piano expanding the conception of rhythm melody and harmony, and Nordeson is playing in a very respectful way pushing the direction of the music and emphasizing every little change.

A great record by a great trio, it would be nice to hear the same band play nowadays and see after 12 years how their feeling has grown.