{"id":2119,"date":"2014-12-02T16:47:32","date_gmt":"2014-12-02T15:47:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2014-12-02T16:47:32","modified_gmt":"2014-12-02T15:47:32","slug":"magnus-ostrom-finally-back-in-italy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/magnus-ostrom-finally-back-in-italy\/","title":{"rendered":"Magnus \u00d6str\u00f6m finally back in Italy"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Concert at Panic, Marostica, Italy, October 22nd<\/sup>, 2014<\/p>\n

Not even a year has passed since I last saw Magnus Öström, live in Istanbul, but I was determined to go anyway: it had been the best jazz concert of my life, as I had tried to express here<\/a>. I was wishing for a new similar performance, in the hope that the Venetian public would be able to offer an equally Mediterranean heat to the stage. Certainly, I did not expect an improved performance, I was going to be very content to have it at the same elating level. I was wrong. Incredibly. This concert was truly exceptional, as concurred backstage by all the musicians, so coming all the way from Rome was absolutely worth my while. The band was outstanding, beginning with Daniel Karlsson, who has definitely made a further technical leap in his pianism, filling up his playing with an indeterminable number of notes, struck with precision and passion. Andreas Hourdakis was splendid, and enthusiastic about his sparkling new Collings guitar, and the great energy of the immense Magnus Öström and the precise inspiration of bassist Thobias Gabrielson were both confirmed.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The concert had almost the exact same set list as the Turkish one, with only the addition of "Ballad for E", a song from the first album, Thread Of Life<\/em>, dedicated to his former bandmate − the much mourned Esbjörn Svensson – so it included almost every track from his latest album, Searching For<\/em> Jupiter<\/em>.
\n\tThe gig started as always with the wonderful "The Moon (And The Air It Moves)" immediately followed by "Dancing At The Dutchtreat" in which Gabrielson gave his best, imitated by Hourdakis. But it was from the third piece ("Mary Jane Does not Live Here Any More") that Karlsson’s increased skilfulness started to become noticeable, enhanced by Öström’s caressing brushes, until Magnus started counterpointing his bass drum with his hi-hat, creating an exciting contrast between hardness and softness. "Searching For Jupiter" began with an almost athletic attack by Karlsson, starting at a very high pace, and drums much tougher and staccato than on the album, and Öström managing to fit in many more beats in his bar: they all ran at breakneck speed, and Hourdakis pulled out a dizzying solo, leaving the scene once again to Karlsson, who played so rapidly you could not see his hands. And yet, you did not get the feeling at all that he was trying to demonstrate his virtuosity; it seemed more like a desire to express himself than a desire to impress. And at the end of his performance Öström captured him back with a crescendo of drums from which he launched Hourdakis’s new powerful solo.
\n\tIn "Weight Of Death" Karlsson’s Hammond duetted with Gabrielson’s bass synth, while Hourdakis caressed his guitar with an arpeggio that was much more shoegazing<\/em> than jazz, until they all seemed to be improvising, totally distorting the original, creating a synthesis of melody. It was again Karlsson’s turn to lead the band in "Through The Sun" with two chords in which first Gabrielson and then again Karlsson stood out, the latter getting lost in an endless and enthralling improvisation, under Öström’s admired and happy gaze.
\n\tIn "Ballad for E" the opening scene belonged completely to Hourdakis, who reinterpreted with great sweetness Pat Metheny’s original arpeggio; he was eventually joined and supported by Karlsson’s Hammond, while Gabrielson filled his bass playing with hues and melodies. The lion's share was also bestowed on him in the next piece, "Happy And The Fall", in which he attacked with a masterful improvisation that sent the audience into a frenzy; Hourdakis then followed him, until Karlsson decided to bring them all home with the original melody, and Öström wrapped it up with a grand finale.
\n\t\"\"<\/a>As always, the last song before the encore was "At End Of Eternity", one of the most beautiful tracks in the history of contemporary jazz, a cathedral of sound in which Öström’s drums departed on an irrepressible, superhuman solo. People in the audience seemed to be almost dissastified by their ability to manifest their exaltation through human means, and my 1200 km journey to Marostica felt just like a short stroll. Hard to believe, but this version was even better than the one in Istanbul.
\n\t"Piano Break Song" was as usual the encore, as beautiful as the original but much more amphetaminic, relentless, and at the audience’s rhythmic clapping Hourdakis went for an improvisation and Karlsson joined him, while Öström flew his brushes everywhere, unstoppable, riding on a glorious super prog finale.<\/p>\n

Set list:
\n\tThe Moon (And The Air It Moves), Dancing At The Dutchtreat, Mary Jane Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Searching For Jupiter, Weight Of Death, Through The Sun, Ballad for E, Happy And The Fall, At The End Of Eternity, Piano Break Song<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Musicians:
\n\tMagnus Öström: drums, percussions
\n\tAndreas Hourdakis: guitar
\n\tDaniel Karlsson: piano, Hammond e Fender Rhodes
\n\tThobias Gabrielson: electric bass, synth bass, keyboards<\/p>\n

Translation editor: Ellen McRae<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Concert at Panic, Marostica, Italy, October 22nd, 2014 Not even a year has passed since I last saw Magnus Öström, live in Istanbul, but I was determined to go anyway: it had been the best jazz concert of my life, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pieces-musical-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2119"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2119\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/monicamazzitelli.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}