There have been a handful of piano trio releases in 2023. SORRY BOSS gets my vote for the best of the bunch.
Howling Jazz Records
Daniel Karlsson – Piano,keyboards; Christian Spering – Double Bass; Fredrik Rundqvist – Drums, percussion
SORRY BOSS is The Daniel Karlsson Trio’s seventh album release. This delightful piano trio recording is an homage to daily life. Karlsson said the album’s for people who are still happy to have a normal work week even though it might be dull, boring, or, sometimes stressful.
The song titles are as tongue-in-cheek as the album title. ‘Bus Stop Story ’could be a story in song. Bassist Christian Spring’s thumping bass is a bus lumbering down the road with a low tire. Drummer Fredrik Rundqvist’s cymbals mimic the dinging bell when that cord is pulled for a bus stop.
Daniel Karlsson’s piano sounds stately, maybe there’s a touch of dissonance. Looking out the window, things are rolling along nicely except for that empty bottle someone in back let roll down the aisle.
Half of the piano tracks on SORRY BOSS were left untouched. Karlsson told me he added “lots of weird stuff” to the rest, including electronic effects, a detuned piano, and a prepared Fender Rhodes.
The first time I listened to SORRY BOSS I thought Karlsson had a piano sound all his own. I asked if he had any influences. He said he spent a big part of his life trying to sound like Keith Jarrett. He still listens to Jarrett and to Bobo Stenson but I think Daniel Karlsson is happy playing the way he does.
‘Confidential Document ’is a lovely piano piece. It’s quiet, melancholy.
Others have used the “Nordic” label for The Daniel Karlsson Trio. I hesitate. Yes, SORRY BOSS was recorded in Karlsson’s studio on the Swedish Island of Runmaro, surrounded by the Baltic sea. There are minimalist repetitive patterns and folk influences. There aren’t a lot of long dark and atmospheric melodic lines. There are so many other influences I hear in the Trio’s music.
‘Clock Out ’is intense. The piano’s mechanical…it’s a machine. Like the title suggests it’s a mad rush to get out of the office! Karlsson’s jagged piano lines make it easy for Christian Spering to hang his nimble bass lines on.
When the song quiets it’s easy to hear how wonderful Fredrik Rundqvist is on drums.
Bass and drums get a funk groove going on ‘Happy Hour.’ It sounds like someone’s playing a Fender Rhodes down the hall. Karlsson wheels out the acoustic piano to demonstrate how mainstream bop should be played. The Fender Rhodes keeps trying to butt in, but it all works.
There have been a handful of piano trio releases in 2023. SORRY BOSS gets my vote for the best of the bunch. In one of Daniel Karlsson Trio’s YouTube videos they said that they were a “small musical collective.” I like that.
