Spotlight: Jakob Bro

In a video below, Lee Konitz says about Jakob Bro’s  music, “He has no words for it. It’s not folk music, it’s not jazz, it’s not pop music, it’s not funk, you know, it’s just balladeering.” Bro’s beautiful sound and compositional voice, on his new ECM release Gefion, seem an extension of the more pastoral sides of Paul Motian, with whom he has played, and Bill Frisell, who has appeared on a few of the Danish guitarist’s records. It also recalls the patient, ambience of fellow Scandinavians like Jan Garbarek and Eberhard Weber in their more reflective moments. Still, Bro is occasionally capable of stomping on the distortion to shift from the calm of the pasture to urban tension. The uncatagorizable nature of his music, combined with his use of looping and effects, places him firmly in the modern guitar firmament. Those in Scandinavia will be able to see him perform this May, with a band that includes Frisell and Konitz, on his Balladeering Tour.

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