Sun Sparkle SkyDive Trio

• 1 Launch 02:37
• 2 Convoy 05:16
• 3 Apollo 04:03
• 4 Engine Rest 02:49
• 5 Descending 04:29
• 6 Surface Stride 05:36
• 7 Spruce 03:42
• 8 Ascending 06:35
• 9 Sun Sparkle 05:10
• 10 Wish I Was Who? (Camera Off) 03:20
• Total Runtime 43:37

Info for Sun Sparkle

SkyDive Trio’s second album ‘Sun Sparkle’ - which arrives three years after its acclaimed predecessor, ‘Sun Moee’ - presents the listener with an intriguing set of paradoxes. A power trio who use full throttle only very sparingly, the band can appear to play loud music quietly, and quiet music, loud, countering jazz subtlety with rock attack. They also partner the relatively clean and melodic sound of Thomas T. Dahl’s guitar with the mountainous riffs and deep, seismic explosions of Mats Eilertsen’s bass, rather as if Pat Metheny was being accompanied by Peter Hook, of Joy Division and New Order. The great Finnish drummer Olavi Louhivuori somehow bridges the aesthetic gap, alternating crunching four-square rhythms with delicately shimmering percussive strokes.

There is no single SkyDive Trio style or sound and each of the ten, very varied original songs contains a very specific musical address to the listener, while their marked contrasts in tempo, mood and texture can also prove deceptive, with even the sun-dappled highlights of a sensitive lyrical ballad holding the odd dark shadow. As with all the best music, the devil is in the detail, and there’s an often cinematic, widescreen quality to the production, with barely-heard, almost subliminal traces of overdubbed guitar or percussion sometimes hiding at the edges of the sound, as if to tease us. The paradoxes of ‘Sun Sparkle’ are perhaps most evident in the twin poles of the album’s contents, with the opening ‘Launch’ - what at first appears to be a gritty post-rock slab of busily repetitive patterning - answered by the closing ‘Wish I Was Who? (Camera Off)’, a beautiful minimalist ballad whose Bill Frisell-ish country twang dances to the kind of stately pulse we might expect to hear in a Bach partita. These extremes are revisited in the second half of the album, when the wonderfully light and airy ‘Spruce’, with Mats Eliertsen’s bowed double bass taking the melody line against Dahl’s simple chordal refrain, followed by the heavy electric bass and distorted guitar of ‘Ascending’, before they reach a transfiguring synthesis in the deeply satisfying title track, ‘Sun Sparkle’, where Dahl’s playing approaches a peak of restrained yet sharply intense lyricism that can recall the mastery of Jimi Hendrix or Carlos Santana at their most transcendent.

SkyDive Trio is also a kind of modest supergroup whose three members have had distinguished careers in a variety of ensembles, as both leaders, co-leaders and sidemen. Mats Eilertsen, who plays electric and acoustic basses on the album, and who composed four of the ten songs, including the opening and closing tracks, is an iconic player within the Norwegian and European scenes, having played in the first version of the hugely influential group Food with Iain Ballamy, Arve Henriksen and Thomas Stronen, as well as with Tord Gustavsen, Jacob Young, the Hakon Kornstad Trio and Solveig Slettahjell’s Slow Motion Orchestra, among many others. In addition, he has appeared as a bassist with international stars such as Joshua Redman, Pat Metheny and Kenny Wheeler. Eilertsen has released four albums as a leader on Hubro, including ‘Radio Yonder’ (2009) and ‘SkyDive’ (2011), both of which feature Thomas T. Dahl and Olavi Louhivuori. All three played in the ensemble for Eilertsen’s suite of compositions, Rubicon, commissioned for Vossa Jazz in 2014 and released as an album for ECM in 2016, as well as with its antecedent as the SkyDive Quintet with saxophonist Tore Brunborg and pianist Alexi Tuomarila. Eilertsen also appears with Nils Økland’s band from the recent Hubro album ‘Lysning.

Guitarist and composer Thomas T. Dahl, the principal soloist with SkyDive Trio and the composer of the album's ’Surface Stride', was a student at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium, and he continues to work in education, presently as Associate Professor at Greig Academy in Bergen. He played with the band Kroyt with vocalist Kristin Asbjornsen from 1993-2005, receiving the accolade of a Spellemannprisen, the Norwegian ‘Grammy’, in 1999. His other bands include Dingobats, and BMX with Per Jorgensen, Oywind Skarbo and Njal Olnes. He has also produced for HighasaKites, the Eivind Austad Trio, and Knut Kristiansen & Bergen Big Band.

Percussionist Olavi Louhivuori, who composed five of ’Sun Sparkle’s’ songs, studied drums and composition at the Sibelius Academy. He made his reputation with three influential bands: the Joona Toivanen Trio, the Ilmiliekki Quartet and the Sun Trio, before touring and recording with the great Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. Olavi has has also played with Anthony Braxton, Marilyn Crispell, Susanne Abbuehl and Kenny Wheeler. He has released several albums with his own band and as a solo artist, and was awarded an Emma Prize (Finnish Grammy) with the band Oddarrang in 2007.

Skydive Trio:
Thomas T Dahl, guitars
Mats Eilertsen, bass
Olavi Louhivuori, drums

Skydive Trio
a solid, traditional guitar trio, is grounded in a melodious landscape and nurtured by rich harmony and Thomas T. Dahl’s guitar wizardry. He plays on the rhythmic waves created by Olavi Louhivuori, Finnish drummer (Oddarang Tomasz Stanko), and Mats Eilertsen, Norwegian bass player extraordinaire (Tord Gustavsen). Dahl composed many of the tracks on the album, including “Slow Turn”, the title track “Sun Moee”, and “Talbot”, while Eilertsen (Tord Gustavsen) also contributed. A fascinating cover version of “Sour Times” by Portishead is also presented. Thomas T. Dahl was a student in the University of Trondheim’s Jazz Programme. He made his debut as a member of Kroyt, which won the award for best cover band with Kristin Asbjornsen. He is a gifted musician who can adapt to a wide range of genres and styles. Sun Moee is a cinematic film that combines pop and rock elements with subtle electronic manipulation with the sound of string sounds. Dahl previously released albums with Per Jorgensen and Dingobats. He also collaborated with Erlend Skosvoll, Jon Balke and Hilmar Jensson. SkyDive Trio members have been working together for many years as part of a larger group. It shows. They all play on Mats Eilertsen’s Radio Yonder (2008) and SkyDive (2011). Eilertsen’s major piece “Rubicon”, which was presented at the Vossa Jazz Festival 2014, also features them. Mats Eilertsen, who is also known as Mats Eilertsen, has so far released four albums on the HUBRO label. His warm, lyrical bass sound is what makes him so popular. He is both a solid and steady player but also experimental. While he is in complete control, he is open to new ideas and is always looking for new sounds. He is a very productive and active musician and composer. He has performed on albums with Tord Gustsen, The Source and the Wolfert Brederode Quartet. Olavi Louhivuori, a young Finnish drummer/percussionist, is an impressive talent. He has a high energy level as well as a lively performance style. Louhivuori encourages and challenges his fellow musicians to be more creative and musical. Louhivuori studied composition and drums at Sibelius Academy. The Joon Toivanen Trio and Ilmilekki Quartet earned him the title “Young Nordic Jazz Group”. Olavi has recorded and toured with Tomasz Stanko (the Polish trumpet player), and has also performed with Anthony Braxton and Marilyn Crispell. He has released several albums with his own band and as a solo artist, and was awarded an Emma Prize (Finnish Grammy) with the band Oddarang in 2007.

This album contains no booklet.