Here is an album that both references the tradition and looks squarely into the future with an intoxicating mix of compositions that on paper shouldn’t really work, but most definitely does.

Stunt Records STUCD25062 (CD), STULP25061 (LP)

Tobias Wiklund (cornet); Hanna Paulsberg (tenor saxaphone); Nils Berg (bass clarinet); Johan Graden (piano); Kansan Zetterberg (bass); Jon Fält (drums); The Swedish Wind Orchestra
Recorded at Atlantis Studio on 30-31 March 2023, at Musikaliska on 29 January 2023 and at Dieselverkstaden on 13 September 2024

Time was the cornet was the brass instrument of choice in jazz, but that was some 100 years ago. Today, the release of an album where the cornet is front and centre is likely to pique the interest and, in the case of Tobias Wiklund’s new album ’Inner Flight Music’, set the pulse racing. For here is an album that both references the tradition and looks squarely into the future with an intoxicating mix of compositions that on paper shouldn’t really work, but most definitely does.

The album brings passages of hypnotic minimalism, spirited ensemble playing, heartfelt blues, Miles-like muted horn, folk-infused melody, closely considered duets, free improvisation and innovative arrangements for contemporary orchestra within the feel of a collective suite that keeps the listener excited and enthralled as it twists and turns.

This is Swedish-born Wiklund’s third release, all on the Copenhagen-based Stunt Records label and each showcasing his love of the cornet. He says that listening to his first Louis Armstrong record at an early age was a life-changing moment: ”When I heard that music and later started playing it myself, I felt like I became part of it, like I was no longer separate but connected to something bigger”.

That sense of awe and wonder pervades each of the compositions on ’Inner Flight Music’ and is one of the linking threads that make the album work. But it is also in the all round quality of writing and playing that bind the album as a cohesive whole, such that when the changes of tone and direction arrive they feel entirely natural. Wiklund’s warm sound draws you in and doesn’t let up so that you feel invested in how the album unfolds.

All the pieces have been written by Wiklund. The first notes on the opener, ’Awakening’, announce the album’s intent and contemporary feel. A single piano key struck repeatedly with occasional flourishes builds anticipation, before bass and drums join, and eventually cornet, contributing circular cascades. Together, they build intensity to a satisfying crescendo conclusion.

On ’Earth & Dust’, piano, bass and drums set up swirling and simmering undercurrents over which Wiklund floats muted horn statements. Paulberg’s saxaphone solo takes over, before Wiklund returns, first as a reflective shadow, then dualing for attention with honours even.

The title track, ‘Inner Flight Music’, after a spiralling cornet introduction, introduces passages of freer playing of cornet and saxaphone over frenetic bass and drums, before settling on a more orderly canter and then slowing things right down. ‘Atomic Stringency’ has something of a New Orleans funeral about it, a slow blues lament then breaking for Wiklund’s solo, perhaps his most expressive on the album, before returning to a blues march.

Other pieces encourage calmer reflection. ’Ssssh’ is a duo for piano and cornet, Wiklund’s plaintive calling over Graden’s reassuring piano presence. The piece is short but very moving. ‘Time and the Forthcoming of Space’ has a celestial feel with Wiklund providing a breathy, wispy-edged tone.

The Swedish Wind Orchestra appears on two pieces, which read as contemporary classical compositions, a world in which Wiklund is clearly at ease. ‘Subway Smiles’ is a mood piece, opening with echoing cornet notes where melody slowly emerges through intricate orchestral textures. On ‘Child of Eternal Suns’ the Orchestra provides real heft, progressively building the sound, around and above which the cornet sounds through first fluttered and then punched notes. It all ends with a John Adams-like crescendo, a fabulous way to conclude the album.

This album is not just a collection of tracks, it is a complete experience, to be consumed whole, and preferably, again and again.