Mathias Eick – “Lullaby”

Gina reviewed two previous ECM albums by Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick: “Midwest” from 2015 and “When We Leave” from 2021. For his latest album “Lullaby”, Mathias has worked with fellow ECM musicians Kristjan Randalu from Estonia on piano and Ole Morten Vågan on bass, with new drummer Hans Hulbækmo. And this is another one of those haunting and longing, folk meets jazz albums which opens with the very tranquil and peaceful “September”. His playing has an immensely yearning quality to it, like on the album’s title track which is full of grief and sadness, with Kristjan playing some beautiful lines over this inspired melody.

There is a bit more drive on “Partisan”, which during the course of its almost five minutes gets pretty expansive, but remains very lyrical in its structure. Mathias underscores the melody with his voice, giving it another emphatic twist and touch. It’s a really insisting piece which vaguely reminds me of some Metheny/Mays works. Mathias wrote “My Love” for his wife. Another track with some amazing piano playing and a hauntingly beautiful melody. Things get a little more dramatic on “May” which is mostly a trumpet-piano kind of interplay, but only on the surface. If you listen closely, bass and drums sort of play a healing force underneath, supporting the others and yet, at times it feels as if they play more of an abetting role.

The beautiful “Hope” was one of the tracks which previewed the album and it is clearly our personal favorite here. The way Kristjan teases and caresses the keys to further enhance this really striking melody is totally fascinating. He seems to be very much at ease with the vast and open spaces which Mathias created. We also get a slightly more experimental, mythical “Free”, where Mathias’ voice and the bass seem to go into a deeper conversation, with the bass turning loose towards the end. Magic spoken here. The final track on offer, “Vejle (For Geir)” shows much more open spaces and an airiness about it that you feel it almost doesn’t belong here. But it is a fitting finale, showcasing a pretty thorough and voluminous band.

The Mathias Eick Quartet plays Ronnie Scott’s in London on March 31st and Munich’s Unterfahrt on April 1st.