Customer Reviews

Evening Falls

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4 star:		(1)
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Jacob Young is a great "young" jazz guitarist out of Norway who ranks with Kurt Rosenwinkel as one of my favorite newcomers to the scene. Young, who (as I recently read) was a student of jazz legends Jim Hall and John Abercrombie, is a mature player with solid technique. He has great tone both on acoustic (which at times reminds me of Ralph Towner's "Anthem") and electric (which is warm and round). His solos are well constructed, featuring strong melodic content, fluid scalar runs, and great thematic development.

Featured alongside Young are Mathias Eick (trumpet), Vidar Johansen (bass clarinet), Mats Eilertsen (double bass) and Jon Christensen (drums); all solid players. Young's compositions are well crafted, with strong melodies that weave in and out of solos and open improv. The horn arrangements provide texture to the pieces and often serve as a pad over which the soloist plays (check out Young's solo on "Evening Air" or bassist Eilertsen's great solo on "Falling"). Johansen's strong bass clarinet provides an excellent counterpoint to the soloist or to the melodies played by the trumpet/guitar. I love the way the bass clarinet is used here; in my mind it draws comparison's to Tomasz Stanko's arrangements on "From the Green Hill" or a few tracks from Dave Douglas' "The Infinite". Nicely done!

For those familiar with the ECM discography, it's well known that Manfred Eicher has been producing wonderful albums for years now. That "ECM sound" as I've often discussed with friends is present here: one that is personal, introspective, and pensive. One person's "too slow" is another's "fantastic use of space and dynamics". I highly recommend this album!

For those of you who do not know Jacob Young, he is a Norwegian-American jazz guitarist who calls Norway his home. "Evening Falls" is Young's latest work and the first with ECM. Whether ECM was the catalyst in Young's new sound or he was going that way anyways, I don't know. The right turn Young has made is quite severe. He has abondoned Abercrombie-style contemo-fusion noodling, for control and delicacy. Young, and the rest of his band, emote with a stark and subdued fury that only the Scandinavian jazzers seem to have. He has gone farther into modern western classical style chamber jazz than any guitarist I have ever seen...and he has done this without indulging in the folkyness of Ralph Towner's work (which I appreciate).

This album is truly "modern" chamber jazz; this is jazz that has organically shifted over to western classical sensibilities rather than simply fusing the two together. Young's band members Mathias Eik (trumpet), Vidar Johansen (backing winds), Mats Eilertson (double-bass), and Jon Christenson (drums) are completely on the same page as him and they work as an extremely focuesed unit. Young's classical and hollowbody guitar style and tone seem to overlap each other and this carries over to the rest of the band, not holding allegiance to the tones of classical or jazz playing. The album's underlying melodies are warm and heart-felt and this enables the band to use them as a tether, venturing deep into stark and contemplative chamber jazz texturings without abondoning the central themes or the listeners attention.

This is the most important ECM record that has come along in a long time. Furthermore, it is is an important stepping stone for Jacob Young and hopefully just a beginning.

I am new to Jacob Young and to all the musicians playing on this album, however his album grabbed me from the beginning till to end; Great melodies, guitar playing as well as trumpet, bass and drums in every single Track.
If you are into Pat Metheny, Michael Hedges or similar music and melodies, this album will be a real surprising beautiful treat. Guaranteed.