Om utgivelsen
MAN EATING TREE is the first solo album by Belgian-born, Oslo-based pianist Jonas Cambien. On prepared piano and electric organ, Cambien channels a soundscape of meditative repetition and oscillating rhythms.
Cambien’s background is dappled with diversity. While training in classical piano at the Conservatory of Brussels, he focused on contemporary repertoire. This would deeply shape his playing and ensuing projects, largely in Norway, where Cambien has embedded himself as a pillar of Oslo’s free jazz and improvised music scene. There, he has released four albums as a band leader with Jonas Cambien Trio and Maca Conu, and lent his touch to many more constellations, such as Aksiom, Platform, and Simiskina. A far cry from Northern Europe, Cambien found his way to Egypt via an ongoing collaboration with oudist and composer Aly Eissa and violinist Ayman Asfour. Cambien’s work with The Handover saw him absorbing an Egyptian stylistic sensibility on the keys, which entered the aqueduct of his musical influences, a complex and vibrant blend that surfaces in MAN EATING TREE. While this album is a culmination of the experiences and inspirations that live in its creator, it is a distinct departure from his previous releases. Grounded in repetitive melodies and fluctuating rhythms that stratify and evolve, it nods to contemporary composer Ligeti, along with minimalists Terry Riley and Steve Reich.
The opening track, “Tre”, begins with a minimalist repeating piano motif a la Philip Glass. Vacillating rhythms cascade around it, pulling and pushing the tension before building into a hallucinatory, clattering finale. “Árbol” shows off Cambien’s hemispheric prowess, as his hands work autonomously to knit a tapestry of wobbling polyrhythms and layered motifs. Muscular and percussive, it cascades into a gentle, aquatic space before resolving into crystalline clarity. With deep listening, this one would surely rewire some brain synapses. “Silverware Vibrating Inside Grand Piano” is exactly that. The metallic buzz and cavernous rumble of metal on metal, amplified by wood, is an elemental meditation. Cambien’s Handover-enhanced musicality is particularly visible on “BOOM”. Executed on Ace Tone organ and prepared piano, it enters serenely before chugging forth on a lurching rhythm. A rippling Alice Coltrane-esque solo tops it off.
MAN EATING TREE is certainly the work of someone who, having mastered his craft, is now unfettered by constrictions, free to play among the garden of chance. Though a work of great sophistication, it remains unpretentious and footloose; music that will saturate the subconscious as much as the conscious mind.
Musikere
Jonas Cambien - preparert piano, el-orgel, komposisjoner
