Different Rivers Explained

Different Rivers
Type:studio
Artist:Trygve Seim
Cover:Different-rivers-seim-sleeve-art.jpg
Alt:Album sleeve art for 'Different Rivers' by Trygve Seim.
Released:9 October 2000
Recorded:1998–1999
Studio:Rainbow Studio, Oslo
Genre:Jazz, free jazz, chamber jazz[1]
Length:55:21
Label:ECM Records
ECM 1744

Different Rivers is an album by Norwegian jazz saxophonist Trygve Seim, released on ECM Records.[2] Released in 2000, Different Rivers was Seim's solo debut for ECM Records and began his long association with the label, as both a leader and sideman.

The album was recorded and produced throughout 1998 and 1999 and, unusually, without the direct production assistance of ECM founder, Manfred Eicher.[3] Instead the album was recorded at one of Eicher's favoured Oslo studios using long-serving ECM audio engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug.[4] Eicher is credited as 'executive producer'.[5]

Different Rivers is noted for establishing Seim's jazz aesthetic, entailing unusual arrangements and instrumentation, as well as infusing classical and Eastern influences.

Reception

Warmly received by many jazz critics upon release,[6] Different Rivers won the German Record Critics Prize, "Jahrespreis – Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik" in 2001[7] [8] and is frequently considered a landmark album in ECM's recording catalogue.[9] [10]

In a 5-star review for The Guardian, John Fordham wrote that Different Rivers was "destined to become one of ECM's classics", describing the album as falling into the free jazz idiom while revealing Seim to be an "up-tempo Wayne Shorter playing Ben Webster". Jazz musician and author, Mike Zwerin, was similarly enthused by the album. Writing in The New York Times he declared Different Rivers to be both melancholic and hypnotizing, describing the listening experience as "like a fireplace in an ice palace, you get hooked on it; it's almost physical".[6]

Seim's impressionistic jazz aesthetic was not universally appreciated, with Jazz Times describing Different Rivers more negatively, as "new-age jazz, mostly composed, with ultraslow tempos and almost immobile lines".[11] Different Rivers nevertheless continues to attract positive jazz criticism. In revisiting the album's ECM Touchstone Series re-release, the Jazz Journal described Different Rivers as "...a masterclass in precision and control ... a most remarkable achievement".

The landmark album status of Different Rivers was celebrated in 2010 when Seim's composition, 'Ulrikas Dans', was selected for inclusion on Arild Andersen's Celebration album, alongside those of seminal ECM artists, including Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Dave Holland, and Chick Corea.[12] Recorded with Tommy Smith and the Scottish National Jazz Orchestra, Celebrations was devised as a contribution to ECM's 40th anniversary celebrations.[13] [14] Different Rivers was later one of 25 ECM albums selected for re-release under the 'Touchstone Series', to celebrate the label's 50th anniversary.[15]

Track listing

All tracks composed Trygve Seim.

  1. "Sorrows" - 6:27
  2. "Ulrikas Dans" - 7:49
  3. "Intangible Waltz" - 5:47
  4. "Different Rivers" - 5:51
  5. "Bhavana" - 4:23
  6. "The Aftermath/African Sunrise" - 6:16
  7. "Search Silence" - 0:50
  8. "For Edward" - 5:33
  9. "Breathe" - 9:19
  10. "Between" - 2:18

Personnel

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Different Rivers - Trygve Seim . ECM Records . ecmrecords.com . 29 April 2023.
  2. News: Adams . Simon . Trygve Seim: Different Rivers . 14 April 2023 . Jazz Journal . 8 August . Jazz Journal . 2019.
  3. News: Grillo . Tyran . Trygve Seim: Different Rivers (ECM 1744) . 26 April 2023 . Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond . August 13 . Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond . 2013.
  4. News: Kelman . John . Trygve Seim: Innovative Vanguard Of A New Wave . 25 April 2023 . AllAboutJazz . March 15 . AllAboutJazz & Jazz Near You . 2005.
  5. Web site: Trygve Seim – Different Rivers . Discogs . Discogs . 25 April 2023 . 2023.
  6. News: Zwerin . Mike . Trygve Seim's Improvisations : A Norwegian Gazes East . 25 April 2023 . The New York Times . March 28 . The New York Times Company . 2001.
  7. Web site: Seim . Trygve . Trygve Seim: musician & composer . Trygve Seim . trygveseim.com . 23 March 2023 . 2016.
  8. Web site: Kjell Kalleklev Management AS . Trygve Seim . Kjell Kalleklev Management AS . Kjell Kalleklev Management AS . 23 March 2023.
  9. News: Waring . Charles . Best ECM Albums: 50 Must-Hear Classics From The Legendary Jazz Label . 25 April 2023 . uDiscover Music . November 24 . uDiscover Music . 2022.
  10. News: McCooey . David . Simplicity and quiet: my isolation playlist from ECM Records . 25 April 2023 . The Conversation . August 05 . The Conversation Trust (UK) Limited . 2020.
  11. News: Litweiler . John . Trygve Seim: Different Rivers . 25 April 2023 . Jazz Times . November 01 . Madavor Media, LLC. . 2001.
  12. News: Grillo . Tyran . Arild Andersen: Celebration (ECM 2259) . 29 April 2023 . Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond . July 21 . Between Sound and Space: ECM Records and Beyond . 2013.
  13. News: Bevan . Peter . Arild Andersen, Tommy Smith & Scottish National Jazz Orchestra/Celebration (ECM 279 0947) . 20 April 2023 . The Northern Echo . 19 July . Newsquest Media Group Ltd . 2012.
  14. News: Adams . Rob . Arild Andersen/Tommy Smith & Scottish National Jazz Orchestra: Celebration (ECM) . 20 April 2023 . The Herald . 8 July . Newsquest Media Group Ltd . 2012.
  15. News: ECM Records – 25 neue "Touchstones" zum Sonderpreis . 25 April 2023 . Jazz Echo . 16 May . Jazz Echo . 2019.