Tigran Hamasyan, Arve Henriksen, Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang ‎- Atmosphères (2016)

Double album of atmospheric improvisations / ambient jazz / just great music, from the combination of four of ECM's most interesting latter-day musicians.  Armenian pianist Hamasyan was joined for this three-day recording session in Italy by Norwegians Henrisken on trumpet, Aarset on guitar/electronics, and Bang on electronics/sampling.

The backbone of Atmosphères is the ten-part Traces suite, with a handful of compositions by Hamasyan's national legend Komitas threaded through it.  With no drummer, and the suite only occasionally catching fire (such as Parts 2 and 7), the main mode of expression is free-floating, wispy ambience.  I remember buying Atmosphères on its release, and taking a while to really warm to it - but it's well worth sticking with, everything here equally rewards background listening or close attention.

Disc 1 link

Disc 2 link

pw: sgtg

Tigran Hamasyan at SGTG:

Luys I Luso

Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang at SGTG:

Dream Logic

Eivind Aarset - Dream Logic (2012)

Eivind Aarset is a Norwegian guitarist whose stock in trade is near-ambient atmospherics, favouring heavy amounts of electronic manipulation, reverb and other effects.  He's contributed to a number of ECM projects, and this, his solo debut for the label, came out in late 2012, supported throughout by long-term collaborator Jan Bang.

As you might expect, textures and atmospheres take precedence on these 11 tracks over formal song structures (the aptly named Black Silence being the most formless), but spindly, minimal melodies abound.  The result is a gorgeous, immersive listening experience with lots of little production treats, like the little ghostly music-box melody that winds its way around the jittery jump-cuts of Jukai (Sea Of Trees), to name just one favourite.  To name another, Homage To Greene is a tribute to Peter Green, with its gentle Albatross-esque melody, but Dream Logic is best experienced as a whole, to let all of its, well, dream logic wash right over you.

link