Serenity (Bobo Stenson album) explained

Serenity
Type:	Album
Artist:	the Bobo Stenson Trio
Border:	yes
Released:	2000
Recorded:	April 1999
Studio:	Rainbow Studio Oslo, Norway
Genre:	Jazz
Length:	90:33
Label:	ECM ECM 1740/41
Producer:	Manfred Eicher
Chronology:	Bobo Stenson
Prev Title:	War Orphans
Prev Year:	1997
Next Title:	Goodbye
Next Year:	2002

Serenity is a double album by the Bobo Stenson Trio recorded in April 1999 and released on ECM the following year. The trio features rhythm section Anders Jormin and Jon Christensen.^[1]

Reception

The contemporary JazzTimes review by Stuart Nicholson stated "Here, Stenson emerges as an original voice within jazz, which in these renascent times is cause enough for celebration."^[2]

The Penguin Guide to Jazz selected this album as part of its suggested “Core Collection,” describing it as “a towering achievement.”^[3]

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "Simply put, there are no records like the Stenson Trio's Serenity. The band has outdone themselves by their slow, careful development over three records and has become one of the premier rhythm trios on the planet. Serenity is not only the group's coup de grace, but also a jazz masterpiece of the highest order."^[4]

Track listing

All compositions by Bobo Stenson except as indicated

Disc one

1. "T." (Anders Jormin) - 6:46
2. "West Print" - 2:24
3. "North Print" (Jormin) - 2:04
4. "East Print" (Jon Christensen) - 2:42
5. "South Print" - 2:32
6. "Polska of Despair (II)" (Lorens Brolin) - 4:41
7. "Golden Rain" - 5:16
8. "Swee Pea" (Wayne Shorter) - 6:55
9. "Simple & Sweet" (Jormin) - 8:17
10. "Der Pflaumenbaum" (Hanns Eisler) - 4:31

Disc two

1. "El mayor" (Silvio Rodríguez) - 5:29
2. "Fader V (Father World)" - 7:23
3. "More Cymbals" (Christensen, Jormin, Stenson) - 4:18
4. "Extra Low" (Christensen, Jormin, Stenson) - 0:41
5. "Die Nachtigall" (Alban Berg) - 4:51
6. "Rimbaud Gedicht" (Eisler) - 3:15
7. "Polska of Despair (I)" (Brolin) - 6:55
8. "Serenity" (Charles Ives) - 5:20
9. "Tonus" - 6:13

Personnel

Bobo Stenson Trio

• Bobo Stenson – piano
• Anders Jormin – double bass
• Jon Christensen – drums

Notes and References

1. http://www.ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/1700/1740.php ECM discography
2. Nicholson, S. JazzTimes Review October 2000
3. Book: Cook, Richard. Richard Cook (journalist). Brian Morton . Brian Morton (Scottish writer) . The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. 1992. 9th. The Penguin Guide to Jazz. 2008. Penguin. New York. 978-0-14-103401-0. 1339. Bobo Stenson.
4. Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed October 13, 2011