Arcanum [CD]

The Scandinavian project Arcanum brings together four artists all well-known to followers of directions in music at ECM: Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Anders Jormin and Markku Ounaskari. They've played together in many permutations over the years, but this is their first album as a quartet. Compositions by Anders Jormin and Trygve Seim, the Finnish traditional "Armon Lapset" (Children of Mercy), and Jormin's arrangement of Ornette Coleman's "What Reason Could I Give" are slotted into a programme of graceful collective improvisations distinguished by lyrical imagination, reflective soloing and sensitive group interaction. PERSONNEL: Arve Henriksen - (trumpet) Trygve Seim - (saxophone) Anders Jormin - (double bass) Markku Ounaskari - (drums, percussion)