Espen Eriksen Trio with Andy Sheppard – Brewery Arts, Kendal

Concert date: 7^th March 2025

You may be forgiven for thinking that the audience was a little sparse given the number of empty seats on display, but only a short while earlier the four fine gentlemen seated played two wonderful sets to an appreciative and full house at the Brewery Arts, Kendal.

With the doors opening at 7.30pm and the performance scheduled to begin at 8.00pm, the audience gradually trickled in to the theatre to take their seats. In danger of looking a little thin on the ground at one point, there appeared to be a sudden influx of people and before long the majority of the seats were taken and a few late comers occupied the last remaining seats as the quartet began the first set.

Often described as the “masters of melody” there is much more to Espen Eriksen and the trio than the description implies. The trio have been together since 2007 and the association with British saxophonist Andy Sheppard goes back nearly a decade. It is perhaps unusual that such a well established trio would look to recruit an additional voice to their music, and Espen Eriksen had certainly spent much time establishing an identity and identifiable sound with bassist Lars Tomad Jenset and Andreas Bye on drums to the extent that they could have continued as self-contained trio ad infinitum.

However, it appears that after only a brief association with tenor saxophonist Sheppard it was decided that there was much fine music to be made as a quartet, and after three albums featuring Andy Sheppard’s equally individual voice and countless concerts around Europe and beyond the relationship between the musicians and Eriksen’s compositions continues to grow and deepen.

Indeed, there appears to be no sign of the magic diminishing at all if this performance is anything to go by, with the four musicians exploring music from throughout their time together drafting in music from their first album together, Perfectly Unhappy in 2018 right through to the live recording In The Mountains (2022) and their most recent release in 2023, As Good As It Gets.

What impressed most about hearing the quartet was that at no point was it all about the soloist. Sure, there were solos, but it was the way in which they evolved out of Eriksen’s composition and the ensemble that was captivating. In addition, it was the way in which the others would react to the music and each other. Were the musicians supporting the soloist, or was the soloist being integrated into the accompaniment?

This feeling of unity and working a single yet flexible and mobile unit is where the joy in Eriksen’s music can be found. Yes, the music was lyrical but it was much more than melody, it was also about the space and silence, and above all the moment.

If the roles of the instruments can broadly be defined and given a specific function, then Eriksen’s writing delighted in turning such expectations on its head. The pianist was happy to work on small motifs and accompaniment in the instruments middle register making use of the treble and bass registers for punctuation as well as occasionally utilising the inside of the piano’s workings to pluck at the strings.

Double bassist Jenset was adept at switching between arco and pizzicato techniques thus creating texture as well as melody and rhythm, and multi-directional trait was also embraced by drummer Bye with his armoury of sticks, brushes and mallets as well as his hand drumming to conjure up a myriad of sounds.

The music flowed seamlessly throughout the evening from the opening ‘Above The Horizon’ in which Bye’s brushwork was a highlight and the more up tempo ‘The Other Side of Melancholy’; while ‘In The Mountains’ brought the use of the drums to stunning effect with Bye’s scraping of stick on cymbal and delicate handling of the mallets in creating a wonderfully gentle accompaniment.

After a short interval the second set was opened with Espen’s lovely ‘Anthem’ with a superb introduction from Eriksen’s lyrical solo piano before being joined by  Jenset’s gently propulsive bass line and hand drumming from Bye. The melody was beautifully captured by Sheppard’s warm tenor sound in an absorbing reading.

In a concert that was not without humour, Eriksen made a desperate attempt to explain the title to his tune ‘The American’ and disassociate himself in every way possible from Donald Trump to the encouragement and delight of the audience.

Closing the evening’s concert (although Espen did suggest that if the audience applauded loud and long enough then they might be tempted to give an encore) with ‘Drifting Clouds’, a lovely piece that featured a delightful dialogue with piano and arco bass.

Inevitably the full house at the Brewery Arts duly followed the pianist’s suggestion and applauded with gusto and were rewarded with the promised encore. This came in the shape of ‘1974’ that came from the Perfectly Unhappy album and also heard on the recently released live album. A stirring composition that allowed Andy Sheppard’s tenor to sing out with some impassioned playing.

A fine way to end the concert, and if you were in attendance that night at the Brewery Arts a reminder of the tunes from the Espen Erikson Trio with Andy Sheppard band book (that Espen had left on the piano) can be found below; with many of the compositions also to be found on the Trio’s albums.