Recording of the Week, Eyolf Dale, 'The Wayfarers'

Left to right: Per Zanussi, Eyolf Dale & Audun Kleive (Photo by Per Schorn)

Norwegian pianist Eyolf Dale, though neither vocalist or lyricist, is a musician who excels at telling stories. Dale earned an early moment in the spotlight as the pianist for fellow Norwegian and tuba player Daniel Herskedal’s 2015 breakthrough album Slow Eastbound Train, with the praise he garnered spurring him to release his own solo record Wolf Valley in 2016, and he’s been on a streak of excellent album releases ever since. While Dale’s been a recording artist for the best part of a decade now, this trio lineup is more of a recent endeavour, with 2020’s Being on Edition Records being his first in this more traditional setting. If you dig back into Dale’s Edition catalogue, you’ll find releases like octet albums Wolf Valley and Return to Mind (2018) or 2019’s duet album with tenor saxophonist André Roligheten, Departure. For The Wayfarers, Dale returns with his very same Being trio, playing again with bassist Per Zanussi and drummer Audun Kleive.

Photo by Lars-Ingar Bragvin Anderesen

Though this only marks the second record for this specific lineup, both Zanussi and Kleive are longtime collaborators of Dale’s, with Zanussi appearing on the aforementioned large-ensemble recordings of the pianist’s music. Characterised by an affinity for classical and folk music, Dale’s particular style of jazz is one that prioritises narrative and song-like melody, with solo-focussed improvisatory passages still present but not necessarily the centrepiece of each tune. Dale’s opening title track sets this up perfectly with its cycling piano melody and nice bass movement, introducing any new listeners to his landscape-painterly style of composing. Elsewhere on ‘Woodland Walk’ the tune’s melody creeps out from the lumbering undergrowth of bass notes, guiding the trio into brighter territories with steadily-controlled dynamics; while nostalgic touches appear on ‘The Fields of Kyiv’, sketching a wistful image of Eastern Europe in better times.

‘A Blacksmith’s Tale’ is about as smoky jazz-bar as Dale and co. get – perhaps trade that image with a steamy blacksmith’s forge – with a subdued bass solo peering over the chords, trading with Dale’s lead lines; another incredibly evocative moment comes on ‘The Sky at Sunset’, where Dale’s piano could easily be mistaken for an Appalachian dulcimer, trading the Nordic landscape for Americana. The Wayfarers is an engrossing record befitting its explorative title, rewarding careful and repeated listens with its depth. The jazz piano trio is certainly well-trodden ground, but with his latest record Eyolf Dale proves there’s still plenty of room to explore further. With atmospheric compositions and an unassumingly spartan tonal palette, Dale paints a sonic landscape that sounds vastly wider than the sum of its parts.