Nordic Jazz has always created spaciousness, the musician’s engrained connection to their homeland landscape and climate always seeping through no matter what direction they are taking. From Garbarek to Bobo Stenson, Timo Lassey to Jakob Bro the sonic foundations are a softly powered undertow to the most varied of jazz expressions. This is not just a state of mind thing though, Nordic Jazz is often shaped by traditional Scandanavian Folk tunes passed down through the ages. It’s this relationship which compels Danish Quartet TINGO and sits at the heart of their richly melodic second album ‘Medvind Modvind’.
TINGO have been convening to make music since 2019 when saxophonist Cecilie Strange met trumpeter Tim Ewé by chance on a Copenhagen bound train. Drawn by an interest in Nordic folk and their curiosity as jazz musicians they called on drummer Per Rask and bassist Benjamin Gower-Poole to explore the possibilities further. The quartet’s debut album ‘Kvartetten fra Verdens Ende’ arrived in 2023 to critical acclaim and award-winning recognition. This follow up continues to evolve the TINGO sound without self-consciously trying too hard to be different. Here we have a quartet who trust their process and who know that within jazz change comes intuitively.
Re-imaginings of traditional tunes are the foundation for ‘Medvind Modvind’. Opening cut Gråtlåten is drawn from early nineteenth century Swedish fiddle tune. After a richly melodic introduction between Ewé and Strange, the momentum gears up as a folksy dance finds its feet. Gower-Poole’s bass vibes with percussive, bodhran-like resonance while Rask’s snare fizzes busily. Both sax and trumpet intertwine with a frictionless agility whether respecting the tune or arcing away gracefully from the main theme.
The brisk Stam Villum also has a coy innocence about it. Originally a Danish courting song, TINGO’s version maintains an air of tingling restraint. To a frisky drum shuffle the tune revolves playfully, a dance of unison and counterpoint from the band’s harmonious front line. Another trad track Halling etter Thorvald Tronsgård is a little more slippery, the band injecting subtle exotic influences into this Norwegian fiddle lament. Gower-Poole’s basslines sway with an Israel Lopez/Cuban jazz sultriness and the Ewé /Strange main theme curls towards silky, Arabic tones.
‘Medvind Modvind’ does however look beyond being a meticulously realised folk-jazz fusion. The band’s connection with traditional music is part of their celebration of nature’s wider presence. This is an album which lives in the forest and takes in its recuperative magic. It’s no coincidence that they chose to record at Studio Folkhemmet, Unnaryd, a remote, peaceful retreat amongst the pines. Here between recording sessions, the players could walk, swim or just be.
Such immersion feeds into the album’s refreshing, vibrant feel. TINGO’s music here is not about faux-beauty, their soundscape is openly natural. The floating, misty balladry of Stilhed (or Stillness) drifts on the gossamer tones of sax and trumpet, almost relishing the silence while På flugt (On The Run) reveals a darker place. From chilling low tones and rumbling drums the pace soon shifts to something wilder as the pursuit begins.
The band’s isolation also seems to have made room for some dreamy reflection which echoes in the retro swinger Haresprånget or the slow waltzing Svanås Vals where Strange and Ewé shadow each other in a gorgeous, tantalising duet. Perhaps though it’s the album’s title track which most clearly reveals the deep thinking which feeds TINGO’s music. Medvind Modvind translates as “headwind tailwind” which for the band is a metaphor for the shifting fortunes we all face. Fittingly the tune is dedicated to drummer Pre Rask’s late father and speaks to both sides of losing someone, the chill of emptiness but also the fondness of memories. It’s an emotional piece which beams with fortitude and warmth. Set within some birdsong, the voices of two of the band’s children first sing the melody before the sax and trumpet sensitively pick up the tune. There’s a revealing narrative strength in the way TINGO draw out the contrasts here, swinging from forceful, determined surges to a lyrical sway as the track resolves.
‘Medvind Modvind’ is an album that celebrates something wholesome, not with misty-eyed sentimentality but with music of calm restraint. TINGO have produced another real breath of fresh air.
Get your copy of Medvind Modvind by TINGO from your local record store or direct from April Records HERE
