Streams

Swedish axe god Ewan Svensson is one of those unheard-on-this-side-of-the-Atlantic guitarists whose approach to the instrument is quietly virtuostic. He was deeply influenced by the early ECM sounds made by Ralph Towner and John Abercrombie and is a contemporary of Pat Metheny, with the same lyrical sensibilities as those men, but a more democratic manner of running a trio. With truly gifted bassist Yasuhito Mori and Swedish master drummer Magnus Gran, Svensson crafts a series of gentle articulations, angular jazz motifs, and haunting soundscapes — sometimes in the same tune — for the purpose of enveloping the listener in his intensive and exhaustive investigations of mode, timber, and tonality. Noteworthy here are the swinging "Weird Blues," with its knotty arpeggios that are played easily and fluidly without a hint of stressing the instrument's fabric, and the gorgeous "Höstglimtar," with a languid interplay between Svensson and Mori, with an unreal sort of suspended time dance by Magnus. Also worth noting is the ethereal "Arachon," with an unhurried solo that takes the melody through the mode and creates an alternate sound world with lovely interplay between the rhythm section, and the closer, "Late Evening," which is one of the most elegiacly pastoral pieces ever composed for the instrument.