Recording of the Week, Eivind Aarset 4tet, 'Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey'

Photo credit: Markus Lackinger

The land of electric jazz guitar is a vast one; with the infinite malleability of the instrument’s sound, the breadth of players ranges anywhere from straight-laced beboppers, to avant-garde shredders and ambient soundscapers. Norwegian jazzist Eivind Aarset appears to pull from all manner of sub-disciplines, with a technical finesse and affinity for otherworldly sounds in equal measure. Even so, like many budding young guitar players his introduction to the instrument was fairly orthodox, spending his teenage years listening to Deep Purple, Black Sabbath and of course Hendrix; while his father was the one responsible for introducing him to jazz in the form of Miles Davis’s fusion records and Weather Report, it’ll come as no surprise that Aarset’s style is heavily influenced by the sounds of 70s fusion and hard rock even to this day. Indeed, prior to beginning his ‘jazz’ career proper, Aarset paid his bills playing for a heavy metal band - something he eventually became disillusioned with - as well as playing in session bands. Even so, there’s an undeniable appreciation for the minimalist tones of his Nordic jazz contemporaries like Jan Garbarek - and in particular his fellow axeman Terje Rypdal. His most recent studio creation, Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey this time with his ‘Eivind Aarset 4tet’, is a brilliant synthesis of both ambient-leaning styles and groove-laden jazz-rock.

For someone known for his use of unconventional timbres, Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey actually has him playing it fairly traditional; while there’s still plenty of affected guitar sounds at play, some of the light chordal passages see Aarset employing a squeaky-clean bebop tone, or wailing distortion for solos straight out of the heavy metal playbook. Phantasmagoria has plenty of variety to offer as far as structure goes, too; there are points where the album would feel at home on a label like Rune Grammofon, bringing to mind more Norwegian jazz-rockers like Elephant9 and Hedvig Mollestad, but with the steadily rocking back-beat replaced with a looser, more improvised feel. The core of much of the album, though, is its groovy rhythms; ‘Didn’t See This One Coming’ kicks in with a lumbering bass from 4tet bandmate Audun Erlien, but as the piece begins opening up this bassline is re-contextualised within the motorik beat of drummer Wetle Holte, as Aarset begins filling out the space with glitching electronic sounds and soaring guitar melodies, indulging his inner shredder with some two-hand tapping and whammy-bar abuse. Album opener ‘Intoxication’ starts out with a similarly low and slow bassline alongside Aarset’s clean chords, while we also get some sprinkles of electronically-manipulated ear candy on top.

Photo credit: Luca Vitali

One of his fellow Norwegians making an appearance on the album - on the track ‘Manta Ray’ - is Arve Henriksen, though as usual you’d be understandably mistaken for thinking it was a flute you were hearing. The tune itself sees Aarset’s warbled guitar tones - just about recognisable underneath his bed of effects - meshing with Henriksen’s flute-like tone and equally elegant melodies, a standout in some of the more ambient moments on the record. On the other end of the spectrum is the track ‘Inbound’, with some absolutely unrelenting guitarwork - Aarset rocking a killer fuzz tone while adding some slight left-field textures with a harmoniser effect. Meanwhile, the closing track ‘Light on Sanzu River’ features some clean guitar chords that bring to mind a more traditional approach to the jazz guitar.

Photo credit: Soukizy

While the Eivind Aarset 4tet call themselves a jazz outfit, you can tell that at the heart of it all they really just want to rock out. Even if Aarset himself abandoned the heavy metal sound many years ago, with some of the noise he makes during some of these tracks it’s clear that some things never really leave you. Like much of the Norwegian jazz ilk with harder-rocking tendencies, Phantasmagoria, or A Different Kind of Journey also shares rock’s accessibility, and makes for a fun, listenable record even despite some of Aarset’s oddball tendencies. Despite this, the quartet’s well-honed jazz sensibilities keep the tunes loose and free, facilitating plenty of exciting spontaneous moments throughout.