Mathias Eick: Lullaby (LP)

On "Lullaby", the Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick introduces his freshly recorded quartet and presents a program that focuses on its improvisational qualities. With ECM familiar faces Kristjan Randalu and Ole Morten Vågan on piano and bass and newcomer Hans Hulbækmo on drums, deeply melodic lines are explored, which the musicians allow to flow elegantly between the harmonies in order to build momentum together out of the forms. Eick's instantly recognizable, soft horn timbre often stands in striking juxtaposition to Randalu's alternately lyrical and expansive keyboard explorations, rising above a driving, always engaging rhythm section. The album was recorded at Rainbow Studio in Oslo.