In general, every new adventure launched by Thomas Strønen is powerfully unique. The Norwegian drummer has retained the Japanese pianist Ayumi Tanaka from his strangely-named ensemble Time Is A Blind Guide, and invited the clarinettist, percussionist and singer Marthe Lea to join the trio. This trio, formed at the Royal Academy of Music in Oslo, have been meeting once a week for almost two years. That's two years of exploration mixing jazz, contemporary, classical and folk music. "Sometimes", says Strønen, "the music was very quiet and minimalist. Playing together generated special experiences." The trio then met in August 2018 in a studio in Lugano, with ECM's Manfred Eicher behind the console, setting down the sparks from their conversations in the wax... and they really were sparks! The sparks created open, delicate and adventurous music, sometimes marked by salutary notes of tension, carried by Strønen's light drumming and Tanaka's piano interplay, whilst occasionally haunted by the ghost of Paul Bley... © Marc Zisman/Qobuz