Jazz Today: March, 1995 @ Oslo “Oceans In The Sky” by Steve Kuhn

March 1995 “Oceans In The Sky”
By Steve Kuhn, David Finck & Joey Barron
At Rainbow Studio, Oslo for ECM (Remembering Tomorrow)

Recorded during the same period as the Brad Mehldau work I introduced on March 13th, this piano trio album is one that I personally consider to be the pinnacle of ECM recordings. It was recorded in Oslo, Norway, which can be called the home base for the many ECM recordings.

When I went to see Steve Kuhn perform in Manhattan, I happened to strike up a conversation with a French couple sitting next to me. We exchanged addresses, and when I returned to Tokyo, they sent me some CDs. This album was one of them. I loved it the moment I heard it, so I am introducing it here.

It features the clear, crisp atmosphere of a slightly chilly March heading toward spring in Northern Europe. The delicate and transparent recording, which takes advantage of this, is captured along with a shadowy atmosphere similar to the photo on the album jacket. While Blue Note is characterized by the humid, mid-range, gritty air of the East Coast, and Contemporary is known for its flat, dry sound, ECM is characterized by recordings that capture the delicate splash of a water droplet falling in a quiet environment.

Whether you listen to it after Blue Note or after Contemporary, ECM consistently features a contrast of motion within a transparent silence. Listening to the powerful bass by David Finck, where the thudding wood and string-plucking sounds are realistic, and the aesthetic cymbal work by Joey Barron, who taps the cymbals with such an exquisite touch that they might shatter if he made one mistake, you can see how the characteristics of ECM, founded in 1969, have been polished over time.

This performance is an evolutionary style of the trio by Chick Corea, which I covered on March 14th, with the three musicians maintaining intense focus and sprinting at full speed.

The recording has clear drum positioning, and it is recorded in stereo from the audience's perspective, centered on the drums. In other words, facing the drums, the ride cymbal, which the drummer uses to keep the four-beat rhythm with his right hand, is in the middle left; the hi-hat, which adds accents with 'kashi-kashi' or 'shaa' sounds, is on the right; the snare, which effectively rings out with 'taka-taka' sounds, is also toward the right; the crash cymbal, which occasionally rings out with a 'gashin' sound, is on the upper right; the swish cymbal, which rings out with a 'kwashan' sound, is on the upper left; and the tom-toms, which fill the mid-range with 'doko-doko' sounds, are separated toward the center-right and left. During the drum solo, the right, left, center, and the bass drum below are smoothly connected, and you can enjoy the dynamic sound of the drums, which feel like water splashing, especially in the drum solos after 2 minutes and 28 seconds and 3 minutes and 52 seconds.

Because the drums are captured in three dimensions, including depth, this is a work that tests the true value of audio reproduction, and if you can reproduce it, it is a very rewarding piece to enjoy. Unfortunately, this three-dimensionality and the sound and pressure you feel on your skin cannot be experienced with earphones or headphones; it is the true pleasure of listening through speakers. Depending on your listening environment, you might not be able to bring these out unless you play it at a reasonably high volume.

Through this recording, you can capture the realism of the drummer using his right and left hands freely, sometimes crossing them, while paying close attention to detail, using both voiced and unvoiced sounds through dynamics, and skillfully and busily playing the drums with a clear mind to contribute to the performance.

So, what happens when ECM records in the different environment of the American East Coast? You can check that with the Keith Jarrett trio performance I covered on January 11-12. The reason is that, although 12 years have passed, the recording engineer for both was Jan Erik Kongshaug, who was involved in 700 recordings for ECM. You can feel the consistent intention regarding sound from the ECM label, which continued to employ that compatible recording engineer, in both albums. Can you feel the differences in the studios, atmosphere, and era between Oslo and New York from the mood of the performances?

The reason this work was recorded in Oslo is that Kongshaug founded his own studio there, which is characterized by high resolution and a high signal-to-noise ratio. The term 'S/N ratio' used in audio can be difficult to understand, but S stands for 'Signal' and N stands for 'Noise,' and a higher value means less influence from noise. How does it sound when you listen to this recording while being conscious of the S/N ratio? You can see that it is the source of the silence and transparency. Many ECM masterpieces were born in this studio, so I will introduce them in due course.

The album title is 'Remembering Tomorrow' and the track title is 'Oceans In The Sky,' both of which are performances that follow contradictory themes, reminiscing while searching. Speaking of similar titles, there was also the masterpiece 'Memories of Tomorrow' by Keith Jarrett (Part IIc of the Köln Concert).

Drummer Barron participated in David Bowie's album 'Outside,' which is said to be his hidden masterpiece, just before this work. Bowie reportedly described Barron by saying, 'His precision is enough to make a metronome tremble.'

In the nineties, just as 'unplugged' swept the scene as a reaction to the excessive electronic music of rock, jazz also returned to its acoustic roots. Perhaps everyone's ears were tired of artificial digital sounds.

By the way, it is said that David Bowie recorded his masterpiece album 'Let's Dance' at the same Power Station studio in Manhattan around the same time as the performance recorded on January 11-12, 1983.

You can find David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' here. It feels like fate that ECM crossed paths with him in this way, and that Bowie later encountered Barron, who has ties to ECM. By the way, the drummer on 'Let's Dance' is Omar Hakim, a jazz musician who has also appeared on Sting's albums.

Returning to Kuhn's work, there is a video of a different performance, so please take a look if you are interested. The bass player is different from this album, but Kuhn and Barron are the same. Pay attention to Barron's delicate yet bold drumming. If you listen to the audio source at the beginning with your eyes closed and imagine the drummer playing just from the sound, you will enjoy this video even more.

Finally, there is another masterpiece version of Kuhn's 'Oceans In The Sky.' You can find that introduction here. This version is an American trio, while the other version features a European bass and drums and was recorded in Paris. The flavor is slightly different, but you can enjoy Kuhn's consistent pursuit of the beauty of sound in both.