Skydive Trio - Sun Sparkle

  by Keith How

published: 15 / 4 / 2018

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Over the years we have been blessed with many guitar heroes from the familiar and famous to the overlooked players. We all have our favourites from different genres, be it Hendrix, Green, Allman or Slash. We will spend hours debating the merits of Metheny, Abercrombie or McLaughlin over a beer or two. More recently Jakob Bro has raised the bar with a series of progressive guitar trio albums which bear looking into. Entering the debate with a second album comes the Skydive Trio featuring Thomas T. Dahl on guitar, Mats Eilertsen on bass and Olavi Louhivuori on drums. 'Sun Sparkle' is the trio‘s second album and proves to be a bit of a puzzle. On first listen the ten tracks appear to be fairly mundane and slightly disappointing. Further investigation reveals some hidden depths. 'Launch' sets things off. As the album is instrumental throughout, this opening track does not really set the world alight. What we have is a straightforward rocker that is really a little tedious. Fortunately the following two tracks begin to reveal what this trio are capable of. 'Convoy' builds nicely. Dahl reveals a master's touch with his chordal structures over an insistent bass and drum backing before launching into some superb soloing. 'Apollo' has a similar feel with a little more intensity and reveals some jazz-influenced parts over the pulsating rhythm section. Around the halfway mark Dahl finds the freedom to be more aggressive, his notes bouncing off Eilertsen‘s bass and the increasingly complicated drum pattern. From here on the trio find a quieter groove, Dahl finding a real lyricism, and not for the first time there are echoes of Bill Frisell on the meditative 'Engine Rest'and 'Descending' where Eirlertsen‘s bass patterns roll along with the percussion. Dahl picks up the pace with an intense solo that soars into the air before the piece fades. If 'Sun Sparkle' has a problem it revolves around identity. Rock, fusion or jazz? There are flavours of all these genres and then to confound the issue 'Surface Stride'is a superb, spacious, almost avant-garde composition complete with McLaughlin-esque lines. This is, for me, the highlight of the record as each trio member finds time and space to be really expressive and takes the whole concept to another level. Track 7 'Spruce' features Eirlertson‘s bowed double bass taking the melody line on a lovely, lyrical track. The title track again features Dahl in restrained and lyrical mode. His guitar solos sparkle like sunbeams flashing and reflecting around the mix but as I have inferred before each member of the trio contributes extensively. An instrumental album of contrasting styles with a rounded and cinematic feel that is, as they say, a grower.

Track Listing:-

1 Launch
2 Convoy
3 Apollo
4 Engine Rest
5 Descending
6 Surface Stride
7 Spruce
8 Ascending
9 Sun Sparkle
10 Wish I Was Who? (Camera Off)

Band Links:-

http://hubromusic.com/skydive-trio-sun-sparkle/

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