The cover of Daniel Herskedal’s Slow Eastbound Train is a view from aforesaid train looking out over a bleak and misty scene. This reflects the musical tone of an album that draws from natural elements, winds and weather, to create an emotional soundscape. To this end, Herskedal’s playing of tuba and bass trumpet is perfectly suited to create a moody, sometimes ethereal piece of work that somehow conjures visions of a Nordic landscape.
Essentially forming a trio with pianist Eyolf Dale and percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken, they are augmented significantly by The Trondheim Soloists string chamber orchestra. The whole sound works well, bridging jazz and classical styles. Scoring and recording is tight and balanced, both in tone and opportunity for the various musicians to fly.
The Mistral Noir is a perfect choice for opening track as Herskedal overdubs himself repeatedly to produce a tightly scored, highly rhythmic yet melodic piece that showcases his instruments and what they are capable of. Can you imagine alpine horns echoing amongst the mountains? With lighthearted Rainfall we are introduced to the rest of the musicians – pizzicato strings laying down a simple foil for piano solo echoed by tuba with creative support from percussion. The more menacing Monsoon Coming follows the same balance of sounds but here wailing strings take equal melodic turns with piano and bass trumpet.
Mournful Solar Wind’s Effects on Earth, Daniel’s Dust Devil and sedate Slow Eastbound Boat are presented here as a triptych of very different pieces that merge seamlessly into one, with Dust Devil being an unaccompanied solo by Herskedal on tuba, exactly two minutes long, that allows him to demonstrate the versatility of this instrument (without being over-indulgent). Rightfully the title track, Slow Eastbound Train opens with a quiet piano solo, leading into a cello refrain that becomes a background counter-melody to Herskedal’s melancholic solo on bass trumpet. Listen once or twice and you’ll have this little meme stuck in your head for days. Imaginative percussion from Norbakken is an important constructive element throughout the album and is exemplified here – never overstated but without it the whole would be far less effective.
In Snowfall the spirit rises again and you can almost feel the sting on your face while you frolic and gambol amongst the falling flakes. Fierce Crosswind Landing is the closest Herskedal ever comes to playing oompah, with tuba laying down a complicated and solid bass over which piano and strings alternatively take centre stage.
Classicists will recognize Bydlo from Ravel’s orchestration of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition – of course, Herskedal permits himself license to augment his playing, which, to my ear, does the original composers no injustice. The fact that this classical piece fits in so intimately with the rest of the album may give you an inkling of what to expect from the whole. In the final track, Sea Breeze Front, we return to the heavily overdubbed arrangement that we witnessed in the opening track – returning to the root and giving the whole album a sense of completeness.
On several occasions while listening to Slow Eastbound Train I realised I was drawing sound comparisons with the works of bassist Eberhard Weber, who was not afraid either to overdub himself (Pendulum) or to score work for orchestra (Stages of a Long Journey). Of course, another bass instrument demonstrating its versatility gives something of an aural similarity too.
All in all, an excellent album; beautiful melodies, sometimes ethereal, often melancholic, and perfect balance between the instruments. There’s a lot of depth to this music, you can hear something new with each listening - I find little to fault this album.
