Playground CD

Personnel: Manu Katche (drums); Manu Katche; David Torn (guitar); Trygve Seim (soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone); Mathias Eick (trumpet); Marcin Wasilewski (piano); Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass).
Recording information: Avatar Studios, New York, NY (01/2007).
The music of Manu Katche lolls around, languorously getting where it desires to go, making expert use of space and silence. The French drummer garnered attention for work on classic rock records by Peter Gabriel and Sting before embarking on a solo tack as a jazz composer and bandleader. His third record, 2007's PLAYGROUND on ECM, written entirely by him, revels softly in an early-morning haze. Katche's tendency is to put himself in the background, using his beat as gentle guidance for the brass, piano, and bass to linger together whisperingly.
Drummer Manu Katche's sophomore effort for ECM is, in some ways, an extension of his nearly brilliant debut Neighbourhood, issued by the label in 2004. The former recording listed such ECM standard bearers as trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and veteran saxophonist Jan Garbarek on the front line and a rhythm section comprised of pianist Marcin Wasilewski and bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz (from Stanko's group). Playground keeps the rhythm section intact, but Mathias Eick and Trygve Seim, on trumpet and saxophones respectively, make up the front line. While there can be no denying the lyrical power of the former unit, this one feels more like a band. Seim is a leader in his own right, having released three fine recordings under his own name and been part of numerous ECM ensembles. He and Eick played together in Iro Haarla's band for the wonderful Northbound recording. The trumpeter is also an integral part of guitarist Jacob Young's group whose ECM debut, Evening Falls, was one of 2002's best jazz releases. Manfred Eicher likes to keep it in the family when he's producing, and he hasn't been wrong for a long time. This set was recorded in New York, and though it retains the trademark ECM "sound" in some ways, it's warmer, too. Separation and space abound, but the dynamic reach of this group transcends that at times.
Guitarist David Torn helps out on the opener, "Lo," and third cut "Song for Her." Interestingly, they are two of the quieter cuts on the set, and Torn's support work is largely atmospheric. The symbiotic communication between Eick and Seim is something to behold. Drummer Manu Katche's sophomore effort for ECM is, in some ways, an extension of his nearly brilliant debut Neighbourhood, issued by the label in 2004. The former recording listed such ECM standard bearers as trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and veteran saxophonist Jan Garbarek on the front line and a rhythm section comprised of pianist Marcin Wasilewski and bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz (from Stanko's group). Playground keeps the rhythm section intact, but Mathias Eick and Trygve Seim, on trumpet and saxophones respectively, make up the front line. While there can be no denying the lyrical power of the former unit, this one feels more like a band. Seim is a leader in his own right, having released three fine recordings under his own name and been part of numerous ECM ensembles. He and Eick played together in Iro Haarla's band for the wonderful Northbound recording. The trumpeter is also an integral part of guitarist Jacob Young's group whose ECM debut, Evening Falls, was one of 2002's best jazz releases. Manfred Eicher likes to keep it in the family when he's producing, and he hasn't been wrong for a long time. This set was recorded in New York, and though it retains the trademark ECM "sound" in some ways, it's warmer, too. Separation and space abound, but the dynamic reach of this group transcends that at times.
Guitarist David Torn helps out on the opener, "Lo," and third cut "Song for Her." Interestingly, they are two of the quieter cuts on the set, and Torn's support work is largely atmospheric. The symbiotic communication between Eick and Seim is something toDown Beat (p.59) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "PLAYGROUND is meditative yet propulsive....Katche brings out brushes for 'Motion,' spinning the wires over the kit as the band plays twinkling unison lines."
JazzTimes (pp.96-97) - "Katche proves a firm believer in, and judicious user of, quietude and roominess....Cozily endearing in a late-night-mood sort of way..."