Bassist
Arild Andersen may not be one of
ECM's best-known bandleaders (to Americans, that is), but that hasn't stopped him from amassing an impressive catalog as one of the label's senior statesmen.
Andersen himself comments in the liner notes at how fortunate and surprised he was when looking back over his catalog and realizing how many younger players graced his sides. The evidence, however, is that
Andersen is too humble: his guidance is like a beacon in bringing the best out of many who would become leaders in their own right. A fine example is on
"Vanilje," which opens the album and comes from the
Masqualero album. Here
Andersen,
Jon Balke, and drummer
Jon Christensen host two stunning players on the front line, young saxophonist
Tore Brunborg and a fresh-faced
Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet. The veteran trio led by
Andersen's trademark melodic rhythmic attack brings the horn players to the fore and creates a wide space for them to explore and articulate harmonically. Elsewhere, as on
"Svev," from his trio date with
Ralph Towner and
Nana Vasconcelos,
Andersen appears not as an equal third but as the negotiator between rhythm and melody, the axis on which the two poles revolve. From the
Molde Concert disc, on which the bassist is teamed with
Bill Frisell,
fusion drummer
Alphonse Mouzon, and pianist
John Taylor,
Andersen plays his double bass as the true forceful foil for
Frisell's angular urgency and
Taylor's
modal inquiry, but it is
Andersen's solo where he offers his
bop chops, which steal the tune. Featuring 13 tracks, there are more selections on this set than on most of the
Rarum titles, and that's a good thing, as it showcases the wildly diverse settings -- all of them successful -- in which
Andersen has placed himself in order to articulate an ambitious and varied vision. ~ Thom Jurek
![Pharoah [Expanded Edition]](http://prodimage.images-bn.com/pimages/0680899800822_p0_v2_s90x140.jpg "Pharoah [Expanded Edition]")
