TRÆBEN – Nordic Project

The Nordic Project by the quartet Træben adds a surprising and sensitive sound to the jazz idiom. Træben consists of young jazzmusicians (some of them originating from Scandinavia) who met at the the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. For their debut CD they combined ‘traditionals’ from Scandinavia (so-called ‘viser’) with a remarkable choice of four songs by the late Cornelis Vreeswijk, the Dutch troubadour, who had a few hits in his land of birth and is famous in Sweden and Denmark as a poet.

The Traeben quartet does not use his texts, but takes advantage of his melodies for beautiful, softly melancholic excursions into the jazz area. The fine balance of their jazz-drive and the tunefullness of the folk ‘viser’ sets this debut CD apart. Crisp when in its swinging gear (as in Vreeswijks ‘Horoskopvisa’), making one’s heart melt in its ballads. Traeben brings a warm, new sound, strong in its vulnerability. A quartet with equal room for the individual voices without the subtle, stilistic unity getting lost. With a graceful harmony, tersely supported by the rhythm, of bass and guitar or saxophone, that makes a difference.

All arrangements by Jens Larsen except Grimasch om Morgonen by Olaf Meijer.