(Hard Bop / Free Improvisation) Carsten Dahl / Arild Andersen / Patrice Heral - Moon Water - 2004, FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Recorded a year after The Sign, Moon Water shows definite signs of growth and increased interplay. Once again spontaneous composition makes up a third of the disc, with Dahl contributing six compositions and Andersen two.
There’s an even stronger sense of immediate form emergent in the group improvisations, most notably on “Eouter et Jouer I” which, at over 15 minutes, is the centrepiece of the album. Starting from near silence, with Andersen delivering round, in-the-gut low tones and Heral adding subtle textures, Dahl enters gradually. Anderson and Dahl are especially in synch, both building figures that are sometimes in response to the other’s ideas, at other times moving things forward. Heral slowly introduces a slow 4/4 pulse and the whole piece takes on form little-by-little. Lengthy improvisations such as this can often appear aimless, meandering; but while Dahl, Andersen and Heral are clearly on the lookout, there is an underlying sense of purpose.
While the general mood is, like The Sign, impressionistic and contemplative, there are moments of brighter expression. Dahl’s uptempo “Egyptionary” is based on a simple 7/4 motif, but in the hands of Andersen the ostinato doesn’t remain static for long. Dahl’s solo is surprisingly aggressive, pounding out close clusters of notes in a Cecil Taylor-like fashion. But eventually the piece returns to the ostinato, this time with Andersen and Dahl holding it down in order to give Heral the most overt drum solo of the set.
The short improvised piece “Rush Brush,” once again, demonstrates Dahl’s roots in Jarrett, this time with the kind of open-endedness that was such a large part of Jarrett’s work with his American Quartet. This may be free improvisation, but there’s a clear concept, with Dahl book-ending the more adventurous middle section with a consistent, albeit idiosyncratic theme on both sides.
Like “Crawl Before You Walk” on The Sign, the aptly-titled “After Crawl” is based around Andersen's fast walk and Heral’s pulsing cymbal work, albeit more assertive and uptempo this time around. Still, like “Crawl Before You Walk,” it demonstrates that the trio is not all about lyrical impressionism and has some basis in more conventional jazz tradition.
There is also a stronger allegiance to song form on Moon Water. “Hymne” and “Disembodied,” both Dahl compositions, have elegantly-stated themes, although on the latter it’s Andersen who is the primary voice. “Joy” could easily come from Jarrett’s ‘70s European Quartet songbook, again adhering more to strict form and delineated solos. Andersen’s “The Day” closes the album off on a gentle note, again with a stronger disposition to structure.
But as much as Moon Water has a clearer definition, and is generally less abstract than its predecessor, it merely demonstrates another side to the trio that is, in fact, wholly consistent. The lyricism of The Sign is taken to further extremes, while the free play becomes even more unfettered yet pointed. Based on Arild Andersen’s website, this trio is still a going concern, so hopefully there will be future recordings with which to benchmark the trio’s development.
By John Kelman

Exact Audio Copy V0.99 prebeta 4 from 23. January 2008
EAC extraction logfile from 15. March 2009, 14:56
Carsten Dahl / Arild Andersen / Patrice Heral / Moon Water
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