Recommended: Einar Scheving – “Intervals”

 

einar scheving intervalsEach and every expression of drummer Einar Scheving‘s mix of Icelandic folk and modern jazz is just brimming with confidence.  It’s why his lullaby melodies resonate with the striking clarity of lucid dreams and why the hushed chatter of percussion calms and soothes while keeping the idea of sleep a distant thought.  On his newest, Intervals, Scheving doesn’t go about reinventing the wheel built on his excellent 2007 debut Cycles or his equally solid 2011 release Land Mins Fodur, but instead just keeps it rolling down the same path that leads to one beautiful scene after the other.

Tracks like “Long Island City,” title-track “Intervals” and “Enjoy the Silence” allow the pulse rate to rise and transcend the predominant tranquility, but never to the point of eclipsing it.  And then there are tracks like “Heiði” and “Róm” that embrace a drifting ambiance and allow the melodies to shake off their intended form, even if just for a little while.  But where you’re going to find the heart of this album is in tracks like “Hvert örstutt spor,” “Yonee” and “Kjarr,” where Scheving’s quartet pours out the melody like water from a carafe and goes about accentuating the details and nuance as if they were sparkles of sunlight shining of the tiny rivulets and streams that broke off from the source.

Simply, a beautiful recording.  Pretty sure if Scheving’s quartet weren’t creating music, they’d simply apply the same talents and become sunrise builders.  Gorgeous music.

Your album personnel:  Your album personnel:  Einar Scheving (drums, percussion), Eyþór Gunnarsson (piano), Óskar Guðjónsson (tenor sax) and Skúli Sverrisson (electric bass).

This album is Self-Produced.

Listen to additional album tracks at the artist’s Bandcamp page.

Jazz from the Reykjavík, Iceland scene.

Available at:  Bandcamp | CDBaby | Amazon

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Einar Scheving - "Cycles"Also, be sure to check out Scheving’s other two recordings, Cycles and Land Mins Fodur.  Despite my packed listening schedule, I always find time to sneak in a listen to both recordings… especially on a weekend morning when the snow is falling and I’ve got nowhere to go.

Einar Scheving - "Land Mins Fodur"Also, worth noting, while I never officially created a Best of 2011 list for this site (which opened shop in December 2011), Land Mins Fodur was included in my Best of 2011 recap columns… for good reason.

Read about Cycles (LINK).

Read about Land Mins Fodur (LINK).

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