Jonas Cambien Trio - Nature Hath Painted the Body (April 19, 2021 clean feed records)

Belgian-born, Oslo-based pianist Jonas Cambien couldn’t have chosen better partners than Andreas Wildhagen and André Roligheten to perform his cleverly constructed compositions. On its third studio album, his trio shows itself as a tightly interacting ensemble, with a free and playful approach.

Cambiens compositions often start with simple ideas, never saying too much or too little, paving the way for collective improvisations that can go from explosive and wild to intricate and dreamy. In that way, the music displays a wide range of moods and types of energy. From the joyful, Ornette-reminiscent ‘1 000 000 Happy Locusts’, to the introspective, repetitive ‘Bushfire’, to the contemporary sounds on ‘Freeze’ that lead up to the stubborn ostinato on ‘Yoyo Helmut’. Throughout the album, the trio is using a variety of sounds and techniques that make the music sound fresh all the way, and full of surprises.

Like the prepared piano in dialogue with Wildhagens imaginative percussion on ‘The Origins of Tool Use’, the animal-like sounds evoked by Rolighetens bass clarinet on ‘Herrieschoppers’, or the organ on the beautiful, deconstructed ballad Helium. On one track, there is no piano at all, but instead a short soprano sax duet played by Roligheten and Cambien, that serves as an intro to the irresistible, trance-like rhythms on ‘Mantis’.

In Jonas Cambien Trio’s world, nothing is out, nothing is prohibited: the music goes everywhere, including corners you weren’t aware of at the start. Unpolished, yet surprisingly accessible, this is free music many will enjoy.

1. Oersoep 00:33

2. 1 000 000 Happy Locusts 05:24

3. Herrieschoppers 03:31

4. Hypnos 01:50

5. Mantis 03:29

6. The Origins of Tool Use 04:58

7. Bushfire 04:34

8. Freeze 07:39

9. Yoyo Helmut 02:51

10. Tongues 01:22

11. Helium 04:05

André Roligheten soprano and tenor saxophone, bass clarinet

Andreas Wildhagen drums

Jonas Cambien piano (soprano saxophone on track 4, organ on tracks 6, 11)

All compositions by Jonas Cambien | All arrangements by Jonas Cambien, Andreas Wildhagen, André Roligheten

Recorded by Morten Qvenild at Ugla Lyd, Nesodden | Mixed by Morten Qvenild at Ugla Lyd and Johnny Skalleberg at Amper Tone, Oslo | Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio, Oslo

Produced by the Jonas Cambien Trio | Executive production by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul | Design by Travassos

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Jonas Cambien Trio - We Must Mustn't We (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2018)

The Jonas Cambien Trio reveals influences from the pioneers and greats of free music, but there’s much more going on in “We Must Mustn’t We”, beginning with Cambien’s classical-influenced piano style. A Belgian-born living in Oslo, Jonas Cambien divides his career between contemporary music, solo playing and free improvisation with groups like Simiskina and Platform – one aspect of his musical interests feeding the other. The use of extended techniques doesn’t get in the way of his preference for more conventional resources like ostinatos and counterpoint, all of which providing structural functions in both his compositions and for the improvisations of the band. 

On the 12 tracks-long album, the music is balancing seamlessly between contemporary ‘avant-garde’ material, slightly weird pop melodies, and occasional free-jazz outbursts. Much of its secret lies in the inventive orchestration, like the use of prepared piano or a home-made microtonal melodica. Reed-player André Roligheten playing tenor and soprano saxophones, as well as bass clarinet and flute, and the extensive use of percussion instruments by Andreas Wildhagen, all add richness to the frequency range and texture. On two tracks, the trio is joined by trumpeter Torstein Lavik Larsen. 

Nothing here is like you would expect: instead of using all the implications of a piece in an exploratory way, Cambien is more interested in finding the essence of all situations. We’re not facing some sort of minimalism or reductionism, far from it, but there’s a methodic application of subtractive procedures giving light to the most defined musical elements, whether they are subtle or explosive of nature. This approach paves the way for almost telepathic communication between Roligheten, Wildhagen and Cambien, and allows the music to emerge with affirmation and clarity in both it’s most sophisticated and raw ranges of expression. This is exactly that what makes this music so mysterious and captivating.

1. Creationism 01:31

2. Swear Like A Bear 05:19

3. Long Long 02:34

4. Survivalism 02:04

5. Crib 04:19

6. Renaissance 03:44

7. Animalism 01:49

8. Copper Man 05:47

9. I Must Mustn't I 04:10

10. Unlikely Friendship 03:19

11. Sister, You Proved Me Right 03:17

12. Long Long Long 03:03

André Roligheten soprano and tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, flute

Andreas Wildhagen drums and percussion (trumpet on track 4) 

Jonas Cambien piano (microtonal melodica on track 9) 

Guest: Torstein Lavik Larsen trumpet on track 6 & 8 

All compositions by Jonas Cambien | All arrangements by André Roligheten, Andreas Wildhagen, Jonas Cambien 

Recorded by Morten Qvenild at Det Grønne Rommet, Nesodden 

Mixed by Morten Qvenild at Det Grønne Rommet, and by Johnny Skalleberg at Amper Tone, Oslo 

Mastered by Christian Obermayer at Strype Audio, Oslo 

Produced by Pedro Costa for Trem Azul 

Design by Travassos

Jonas Cambien / Adrian Myhr - Simiskina (CLEAN FEED RECORDS 2017)

The elegance and complex delicacy of contemporary classical music and the drive and energy of jazz-rooted improvisation cross characteristics in the very special duo formed by Belgian-born, but residing in Oslo, pianist Jonas Cambien and the Norwegian double bassist Adrian Myhr. A member of the chamber music ensemble Aksiom, Cambien can develop tachycardic and jumping lines like the ones we heard from Thelonious Monk and Cecil Taylor with the same naturality he takes us to the intrincate universes of Ligeti and Messiaen. And if his hands seem to melt over the keyboard, the moving preparations he proceeds when dealing directly with the guts of the piano are no less intriguing than the ones proposed by Benoît Delbecq or Denman Maroney. Myhr has a similar relationship with his instrument, using it as a laboratory of investigation, without forgetting its history outside the orchestral format. Listening to their respective performances with the bands Platform and Karokh (Cambien) and with music explorers like Tobias Delius, Axel Dorner and Tony Buck (Myhr) makes us understand – even before clicking in the Play bottom which drops us inside “Simiskina” – the motives for this encounter. Free improvised music few times seemed so focused, so clean of superfluous elements and so exquisite than in these selection of pieces. A must have, must listen.

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