Ayouni
Örjan Hultén Trio/Fakir Karlsson
Artogrush Music (2005)
There is something unusual and interesting in this package that comes out of Stockholm. Six musicians get together, three a jazz trio, the other three an Arabic folk trio. The first has Orjan Hultén, Filip Augustson, and Fredrik Rundqvist, the second comprises Salem Al Fakir, Nassim Al Fakir, and Mats Karlsson. The music seamlessly weaves jazz and Arabic music.

The end result is an arresting record that gives world jazz a marvellous window of invention. And inventive it is as Hultén unleashes torrid lines on the saxophone on ”Arrabbiato.” But the environment of free jazz is only a setup, as the oud dances in and the percussion and the drums spin a heady rhythm. The melodic line is Arabic and Hultén improvises on the melody, pushing the edges and finding a companion in Salem Al Fakir, who darts quick lines on the violin. And then the saxophone gets harder as the groove moves into bop territory without a bump.

They come full circle on the other tunes as well. The dynamics change to take in “Rubato,” a ballad that gets its soul from Hultén, who plays with a warm glow, and the fluttering accents from Fredrik Rundqvist, whose drumming is always well controlled and essays the perfect rhythm. The mood swing that characterizes “R-Kids” moves from an uptempo sway to a vaporous air in search of form. The latter beguiles as the musicians weave the strands back into the swing of things.

Another enthralling tune comes in “Ayouni (My Eyes),” the melody catchy but taken into swing, with a hint of New Orleans, shifts in tempo, and a straight reading, marked by a dialogue between Nassim Al Fakir and Rundqvist, and all players blend to captivate.

Jerry D'Souza/allaboutjazz.com

In The Woods
Örjan Hultén Trio
Artogrush Music (2006)

Buy the CD at dotshop.se

Tracks:

Diggin the birds
Restless
Old friend new friend
Spoken of fear and anger
It's ugly here
Hellsning
Lick the ground
Melanchoholic
Jorden runt

Produced By Orjan Hulten Trio

Personnel:
Orjan Hulten: soprano, tenor saxophones
Filip Augustson: bass
Fredrik Rundqvist: drums

Warm wyrm-jazz in the tradition of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, but on a more wooded folky vibe.
Artogrush (OCD003)

Brilliant trio jazz from three of Swedens most exciting musicians. Music in the tradition of Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane with an ambient and contemporary touch. Örjan Hultén Trio went to Prästmon, Ångermanland in the north of Sweden to reconnect to their northern roots and to get the right woodland feeling. This new album, their first full length recording as a trio, was recorded in Hola on a bitterly cold winterday. “The woods” are a central source of inspiration on this album, the music sometimes dark and mysterious like a northern pineforest, sometimes busy and bickering like chattering junglebirds, sometimes peaceful and unfathomable like a woodland pool.