Showing posts with label Olga Konkova. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olga Konkova. Show all posts

Thursday, October 6, 2022

Olga Konkova Trio - Open Secret

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2021
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 60:10
Size: 140,5 MB
Art: Front

(5:43) 1. Hymn For my Brother
(3:38) 2. Loved Before
(6:25) 3. All Sorts of Weird and Wonderful
(4:39) 4. Rest In Motion
(5:36) 5. Darwin`s Point
(4:00) 6. No Rules
(4:03) 7. The Man With The Van
(2:48) 8. Les Hommes des Sables
(6:07) 9. Open Secret
(6:39) 10. Grande Capitano
(6:21) 11. Discovering the Truth
(4:07) 12. Triste Realidad

This album is a listener’s journey. Imagine a kaleidoscope for the ears. Forms, colors and patterns gently and constantly evolving towards something yet unheard. Cohesive, unpredictable, delicate, intimate, extroverted, somber and playful.

There is a very internal aspect to this music, and the playing of these performers. We don’t hear a musical conversation between the musicians so much as we hear an exchange of thoughts, dreams, and half-forgotten memories. This is not music for spectators. The listener can’t stand outside of the music and watch it go by. We are invited inside. The interplay between the musicians insists that we come and be a part of it.

The material spans the spectrum from quiet introspection, drawing the listener in close, to a driving intensity that challenges the sonic limits of the trio. Sometimes the music is sparse and aesthetic, creating immense weight and value for each individual note. At other times, the sounds come in a seemingly endless cascade to engulf, inundate and overwhelm the listener.

The trio format has always been a challenging one. The sound is open and transparent, unmercifully exposing any flaw, uncertainty or hesitation. Approached too simply, the format stiffens. The bass, piano and drums relegated to their expected functions of melody, harmony and rhythm become ultimately predictable. It would be easy and comfortable to fall back on these traditional roles. But here, every contribution can stand on its own musical merits. This trio playing more closely resembles three soloists united in a common cause. Three distinct and individual voices creating a unique commentary. In this respect, the trio format fits perfectly, showcasing the nuance, depth, sensitivity and imagination of the performers that might otherwise be covered up in a larger ensemble. This is a listener’s album. Get your best pair of headphones ready, and enjoy the ride.
By Scott Pierson Rogers http://www.losenrecords.no/release/open-secret

Personnel: Olga Konkova piano, Fender Rhodes; Per Mathisen upright bass; Gary Husband drums

Open Secret

Monday, November 20, 2017

Olga Konkova & Jens Thoresen - Old Songs

Size: 124,4 MB
Time: 53:21
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz
Art: Front

01. Futile Sentiments (4:14)
02. Lamento (7:00)
03. Blue In Green (4:13)
04. Bossa Verde (4:43)
05. The Things We Could Have Been (6:51)
06. Minor Tweaks (4:03)
07. One Day! (5:13)
08. Slow Walk (5:36)
09. Tristissimo (7:10)
10. Sol (4:14)

Olga Konkov and Jens Thoresen seemingly can't sit down for a chat without something beautiful coming out. Each has a mellifluous touch on their instrument, but their eloquent back-and-forth chemistry is the bigger part of what makes their duo recordings special. Following on from the holiday collection December Songs (Losen, 2016), the pair sticks to the same approach of re-shaping their source songs almost beyond recognition, producing another excellent release suitable for late-night quiet moments during any time of year.

Old Songs puts some of the genre's best-known standards through the duo's looking glass to beautifully contemplative results. It would be a fun game for the jazz connoisseur to take a first blind listen here before reading the full "inspired by" list that accompanies the track titles. Spotting John Coltrane's iconic chord progression from "Giant Steps" isn't too hard, for instance, though its two renditions here amble at a determinedly non-frenetic pace that oozes with subtle warmth (and even comes out worthy enough for us to almost forgive the spelling of "Little Tweakz"). Such transformations remain the order of the day, whether they're giving the Beatles a gentle yet busily-rumbling tribute or turning Jobim's "The Girl from Ipanema" into the most soothing of sambas.

Konkova takes the more edgy role with piano cascades or rambling solo lines, though she's still willing to settle down to floating chords or briefly sit out when called for. Thoresen for his part sticks largely to deceptively simple lines and smooth-toned strums that create a perfectly soft bed for the songs to breathe. It would be great to hear what this pair could also do with a collection of original pieces or improvisations somewhere down the line. As long as this lovely banter is intact, though, it'll remain a small joy to hear them doing anything at all, old songs or new or anything in between. ~Geno Thackara

Personnel: Olga Konkova: piano; Jens Thoresen: guitar.

Old Songs