Oberg, Mats - Improvisational Two
SKU
CAPRICE21780
"The musical genius of Mats Öberg has delivered to us this masterpiece of work inspired by the late Cornelis Vreeswijk, with jazz-improvised songs. What sets this apart to me (with my untrained ears) is how Mats effortlessly flows over the ivories, not as a jazz musician, but as a classical one playing jazz, and that's what I think makes this so great. The sense one gets from this record is that Mats played it with care, but also in great fun, and that joy is projected onto the listener."-Scandanavian Music Journal
"This is Caprice Records’ second issue in their promising series Improvisational, which is produced in an unusual setting, with a set of defined parameters. One ingredient is the hour of recording: in the dead of night...Caprice does not record in the middle of the night to avoid disturbances, but to get deeper into the reflective mood – and mode – of the pianists of these sessions! That certainly reveals a deeper thinking on the part of the producer, and I’m sure he is right. In the dead of night or the wee hours of morn, improvisation gets into a soaring, dream-like, penetrating flow, which is discerned here, in Mats Öberg’s brilliant improvisations on Vreeswijk. The pianist Mats Öberg – now in his mid thirties – is one of the most talented pianists of the day, well known for his knack at improvisation...Mats Öberg’s way of improvising on these songs in such a manner that you, much of the time, just lose yourself in the liberating perception of good art and sound without thinking about these songs that Öberg’s playing originates in, is a great achievement – and he surprises me a lot. I get a new sense of what improvisation can be. This way, Mats Öberg also provides a completely new way of hearing Vreeswijk..."-Sonoloco