STEN SANDELL TRIO
Standing Wave
Sofa Records
504


Its interesting; some of my first impressions of this disc recalled Cecil Taylor, but not because of the pianist. Its because of the way the trio plays around him; very busy, shifting layers. Unit structures, if you will. This is high energy music that strikes deep rather than loud.

Standing Wave features torrents of ostinato. It reminds me of, in a totally different genre, the hypnotic piano repetition of High As Apple Pie by Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. The bowed basss
texture overlaps with the piano, and the trio truly is a unit.

On Axel, Berthlings bow lows like a cow, and squeaks beautiful bridgework. This is my first encounter with his work, but he clearly is a master. Edvard features some bowed cymbal which resonates literally and associatively with the piano and plucked bass.

The notes are a poetic encomium by Mats Gustafsson, using surprisingly effective images, in English. Strikingly attractive artwork on this digipak. Easily one of the best releases of this year.


Steven H. Koenig


Track Listing: 1. Mural; 2. Standing Wave; 3. Axel; 4. Edvard; 5. Elongate


Personnel: Sten Sandell, piano; Johan Berthling; Paal Nilssen-Love, drums, percussion