Invisible threads

Description

John Surman, Nelson Ayres, and Rob Waring came together here to play a new program composed mainly of original pieces by Surman - it also features a theme by Nelson Ayres titled "Summer Song." This session was recorded in Oslo at the Rainbow studio in July 2017, under the artistic direction of Manfred Eicher. The saxophonist and clarinetist John Surman is often described as a typically English improviser and composer, and it is true that elements borrowed from folk music and resolutely pastoral atmospheres nourish the music of some of his most popular albums like 'The Road to Saint Ives' or 'Saltash Bells.' However, Surman's career can also be read as a long series of encounters with musicians from other countries and cultures, all united by a network of invisible threads among which is this shared sense of melody that transcends idioms. John Surman thus met pianist Nelson Ayres - well known to aficionados of Brazilian jazz for his work with Airto Moreira, Milton Nascimento, and Banda Pau Brasil - during a tour in South America. And it was in Oslo that he came to know and appreciate the playing of Rob Waring, American expatriate vibraphonist (who has recently been heard on ECM with Mats Eilertsen).