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As a player, Råberg is graceful and lyrical with a real fleetness to
his articulation and a keen grounding in rhythm and harmony. (Cadence)
Bruno provides deft support and emotional solos while drummer Moses interacts with subtle brilliance."
Ed Friedland, Bass Player Magazine
Complete liner notes for "Orbis" by Bob Blumenthal
The cliche about the world getting smaller is nowhere more apparent than in the realm of music. Technology makes the output of faraway lands readily available, to be sure; but more importantly, musicians are beginning to identify common ground in what may at first appear to be geographically isolated styles.
Take the music that bassist Bruno Råberg has composed for his quartet. What might sound like African or Latin influences in "Forest Star" and "Cape Light" are actually references to the folk music of Scandinavia. On "Yellow Woods" styles coexist next to each other rather than in a blend. Small world indeed!
Råberg is Swedish and, as you can tell from the briefest sampling of this music, he is also unquestionably a jazz musician. The merger of personal roots and preferred vernacular that is central to his concept has evolved over time. He began listening to jazz when he was four or five, around the time his older sister bought a turntable that came with a Wild Bill Davis/Johnny Hodges album. From there his jazz interests spread - hearing Giant Steps about 10 years later made a particularly strong impression - and early work with the late trombonist Eje Thelin reinforced his exploratory instincts. A period of extensive work in Europe followed; then Råberg decamped for the US. "Sweden and Norway have a very strong tradition of melodies, sensitivity and touch," he explains. "New rhythmic styles characteristic of this region have been created by players like Palle Danielsson and Jon Christensen. At the time, though, I was on a quest to get closer to the African-American tradition and its rhythms. So, in 1981 I came to Boston."
Råberg has lived in the Boston area ever since, having graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music and assumed a teaching position at Berklee College. He went through the period he describes as,"gaining your confidence, setting aside your doubts about whether your background allows you to play this music." Yet the distance he gained from his roots allowed Råberg to discover the points of commonality that have produced an individual style. "After I had been here a few years," he recalls, "I put on one of my old Swedish folk albums, and it really hit me. Scandinavian folk themes have polyrhythms that suggest Africa or the clave. This was a big revelation, since I had never connected these folk rhythms with black music; but we have triplets in our music, and the melodies have a melancholy mood that is similar to the blues. This folk music goes back hundreds of years, and was forbidden when the Lutheran religion came to Sweden. But music survives, of course, and these pieces were finally written down and documented in the 20th Century. Now they are a flavor I use, a spice in my cooking."
There are other spices as well. "I like the feeling of joint solos, where the focus is not just on one player," Råberg admits. "It comes from growing up with early Weather Report, where `everybody solos and nobody solos.' Having Ole and Tim take joint solos works well because I look for contrast as much as commonality, and Ole and Tim are very different. Ole is from Norway, and knows where I'm coming from. We have a certain melodic as well as rhythmic thing together. Tim's solos don't hit you over the head the first time you hear them; but you can listen to them over and over. He is also one of those guys who you almost don't have to give the written part, his instincts are so strong. And I could write a book about Bob. Swedish radio used to have a program called `Confrontation,' where the whole idea was putting things together that you think wouldn't work. That's part of what I wanted to achieve with the contrast of personalities in the band."
The concept works beautifully throughout the album, with the conversational give-and-take on "Wings of Hope" and "Winds Above," and the central thematic role that Moses fills on "Is This Tomorrow?" being among the strongest examples of Råberg's benign confrontations. If the approach results in fewer solo spots for the leader than might be expected, Råberg is not concerned. "I feature myself better as a soloist on other people's music," he offers, "and I'm glad that we hardly ever all solo on a piece."
Råberg's lyricism as a player - that Swedish tradition of sensitivity and touch - and his strong rhythmic conviction come through clearly enough; but the major revelation here will be Råberg the composer. "I allowed a simplicity on this album that wouldn't have been there before," he emphasizes. "I wrote the music over the course of a year, and one of my goals was to use the Scandinavian folk themes for rhythmic more than melodic inspiration. I also try not to think of harmony or chords when I write. I create two or three lines of counterpoint, and figure out what chords they suggest later. And I compose at either the piano or the bass, which I do by singing the top line while playing the counterpoint. `Forest Star,' `Wings of Hope' and `Yellow Woods' were written on the bass. Computers are tricky to use when composing, because computers can fit lines together that work for the ear but not for the body."
There are stories behind several of the compositions, like the madness of his kids fighting for early-morning time in the bathroom while he composed the striking "Heart of Gold," or how "Is This Tomorrow?" got its title from a question Råberg's son asked after being told that he could have more ice cream tomorrow. Råberg is not concerned with programmatic connections, however. "The music can convey `feelings,' and that's okay," he says; "but there is another thing deeper than the feelings. It's like learning all of the techniques you need to play your instrument, then going past them. You get the ego out of the way, which means getting out of your own way. It's the difference between playing and `being played.'"
Råberg and his equally talented partners have learned all about the difference, and it shines forth as brightly in their music as the midnight sun.
- Bob Blumenthal
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| | Runes (solo bass) - 2:39 | | | Forest Star - 6:14 |  | | Heart of Gold - 5:03 | | | Cape Light - 5:46 | | | Is This Tomorrow? - 6:00 | | | Signs of Love - 5:39 | | | Wings of Hope - 6:50 | | | Winds Above - 4:17 | | | Yellow Woods - 5:48 | |
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Ole Mathisen soprano/tenor sax
Tim Ray piano/ Fender Rhodes
Bruno Råberg acoustic bass
Bob Moses drums
Recorded in Boston 1996
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