Close to perfection…

The musical highlight of the month continued last night at Prague’s best jazz club, the one in Beroun, Ateliér 57. Odd Steinar Albrigtsen Quartet, Odd Steinar Albrigtsen – g; Gianni Gagliardi – sax; Lars Ekman – b; Jesse Simpson -d, took us on a journey and showed that melodic jazz doesn’t always refer to standards. With an absolutely gorgeous two set built on Odd Steinars own compositions we were in for a treat that it’s easy to understand all the praise this band has got both for their performance as the latest record, Winds, released February this year. Last night was a masterclass in harmony, skills, individual performances but maybe most of all the love for what you are doing, the heart and soul the members of the group put into their performances. It wasn’t just what you saw or heard but most of all what you felt… 

 

It’s probably wrong to single out one individual from the whole after a night like last night, but I do it anyway. Odd Steinar is not only a great composer and guitarist but also a brilliant bandleader, with apparent modesty he gives more room than normal to his colleagues and their achievements without losing the control and still staying in line for the target set. I might be totally lost here with my thoughts but this is the feeling I had last night, and in a very positive way!  This is one big part that made yesterday so musically special, not to forget the most important parts, all four of them and what they have together and thankfully shared it with us.