Nordic Quartet, The Firebirds: Adaptations

The Strad Issue: November 2024

Description: A fascinating concept album, though the results are variable

Musicians: Nordic Quartet, The Firebirds

Works: Music by Aas, Patricelli, Kujala, Martin and Bonfill, plus improvisations

Catalogue number: DACAPO 8224761

This high-concept release from jazz/improvisation trio the Firebirds and the Danish-based Nordic Quartet neatly brings into focus the question of whether it’s enough simply to sit back and appreciate the sounds a disc is offering, or whether it’s crucial to know why they’re there. Take option one, and it’s a beguiling, sometimes strangely eclectic collection of free-jazz or modernistic pieces that draw contrasts between The Firebirds’ sax/keys/drums sound world and the extended techniques of a classical quartet.

Option two, however, unveils a complex web of connections and reinterpretations, as improvised pieces by the Firebirds serve as jumping-off points for new quartet works from a clutch of international composers, which are in turn rearranged (and often seriously reimagined) back for jazz trio. Add to that a reordering of the resulting pieces and you have enough to make your head spin.

Nonetheless, it’s a rewarding collection of works, although its wild stylistic diversity doesn’t make it the most coherent listen. There are some sonic marvels here: UK-born, Copenhagen-based composer Nick Martin transforms The Firebirds’ dark, throbbing improvisation Low into the delicate, deeply emotional Queer Tears, played with enormous sensitivity and also strong definition by the Nordic musicians. The driving rhythms of Veli Kujala’s Fast Forward and Mauro Patricelli’s Fato, however, seem like a rather pat response to The Firebirds’ stomping, aggressive Repetto – though enjoyable enough in their own right.

DAVID KETTLE