Liquid Light is the third release by Equilibrium. This European trio (Norwegian vocalist Sissel Vera Pettersen, Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug, Belgian reed player Joachim Badenhorst, all composers) demonstrates again the beautifully strange, ecstatic, uncanny and sometimes grotesque spaces these three can find themselves in.

It’s a cliché to say that the term “jazz” has become a convenient broad umbrella for very different kinds of music, but even so one would be tempted to label Equilibrium’s music something else – but what? They do use instruments common in jazz, free improvisation is central to their practice, and they all lead and/or play in other bands that are definitely some kind of jazz. (And Joachim was named a rising star on clarinet in the 2013 DownBeat Critics Poll.)

You could think of their music as “post-jazz” – and post-folk, post-world, post-classical, post-minimalism and maybe post-psychedelic. But not post-modern, that would imply a conscious pastiche of disparate styles, whereas Equilibrium’s process is quite organic. The process indeed is what they value most about their collaboration, which has been happening on and off since 2007. They all lead busy lives outside the group, and bring their very different musical and life experience to the table. But, as Mikkel says, “essentially I believe we still look for the same goal – to melt our sounds into something that moves us. So it becomes an open dialog of the three different worlds we represent musically. Often none of us knows what will come next – it’s a very undefined sound for us, still, after all these years of playing together.”

For the improvs at least it’s all about communion, in an almost spiritual sense. (But also, check out Sissel’s solo vocal meditation “Respire”, created using a very long reverb but without any looping, which has a comparably strong sense of presence in the creative moment.) The compositions balance the improvisational ebb and flow, contributing often-driving rhythmic structures, and melodies that can aspire to a kind of sublimity and serenity. It’s a music that is sophisticated in its means, and somehow both elusive and transparent in its effect, with roots and feelings that seem to go back centuries, but a holistic approach that’s of today.

About the mix by Rainbow Studio’s Jan Erik Kongshaug, Sissel says, “We wanted the music to be wrapped in his particular sound. So mixing with him is basically about leaning back and letting him do his magic.”

Equilibrium
Sissel Vera Pettersen, Vocals, Live Electronics, Soprano Saxophone & Singing Bowls (Track 11)
Mikkel Ploug, Guitar
Joachim Badenhorst, Clarinet & Bass Clarinet