Thomas Stronen - Lucus [VINYL]

For his album 'Lucus', Norwegian drummer/composer Thomas Strønen presents a revised edition of his acoustic collective Time Is A Blind Guide, now trimmed to quintet size, and with a new pianist in Wakayama-born Ayumi Tanaka. This 180g vinyl version (which comes with a free download code) has one less track than the CD. <p>Tanaka has spoken of seeking associative connections between Japan and Norway in her improvising, a tendency Strønen seems to be encouraging with his space-conscious writing for the ensemble, letting in more light. <p>As on the group's eponymously-titled and critically-lauded debut album there are excellent contributions from the string players – the quintet effectively contains both a string trio and a piano trio – and Manfred Eicher's production brings out all the fine detail in the grain of the collective sound and the halo of its overtones, captured in the famously-responsive acoustic of Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo in March 2017. <p>Personnel: Ayumi Tanaka (piano), Håkon Aase (violin), Lucy Railton (violoncello), Ole Morten Vågan (double bass), Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion)