In listening to the new Bobo Stenson Trio album Indicum (ECM 2233) I said at first, "gee, sounds familiar." Then I had to remind myself that Maestro Stenson was a part of ECM (with Garbarek, etc.) nearly from the very beginning. If there is an ECM piano sound (and there is), he had something to do with fashioning it. Bley, Jarrett, Stenson...they shared and share stylistic traits. Bill Evans was an elder relation then, surely. Bobo Stenson today is still a vital part of that sound, and he is playing and extending himself, it is important to remember.
Appropriately Indicum gives him and his trio a good variety of material to work with, band originals and improvisations, a Bill Evans number, George Russell's "Event VI" in a very nice version, a Norwegian traditional melody, and so forth.
Anders Jormin on doublebass and Jon Falt on drums do what you might expect from such a trio and do so well. Bobo shows a ruminative, reflective side on many of the pieces in a balladic sense and he sounds very beautiful in the process.
It's one that modern piano trio fans will love. A perfect record for long winter nights ahead...Norway or New Jersey.
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