Trygve Seim: Sangam
MIC's Listen to Norway series continues with Trygve Seim's 'Sangam'
Sangam is Trygve Seim’s second ECM album under his name. It follows his panegyrically received 2001 debut “Different Rivers”, which placed him at the pinnacle of international jazz.
Sangam is Sanskrit for “meeting”, or “intersection”, and it can be interpreted as referring to the musical cross references between jazz, contemporary composition and world-folk traditions that constitute Seim’s musical orientation.
He is also inspired by both the music and the thought of the east, evident in the free floating, yet tranquil mood of his music.
His main inspiration is however the ECM sound and philosophy itself, and, not surprisingly, Garbarek more than anyone.
“Hearing Garbarek’s Eventyr was an awakening, I never knew sax could sound like that,” recalls Seim.
His own playing has been described as “wind through the trees, or wooden flutes”.
On Sangam he has brought in an enforcement to the impressive line up from the previous record, the fantastic accordionist Frode Haltli, whose emergence on the music scene have swept people away.
In addition to the pieces Seim has composed for this record, it also includes a commissioned work he composed for the Norwegian Sea Rescue Company’s 110th anniversary, a string ensemble work that contributes a different sonic trait to the record.
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