# CD review: Carsten Dahl Trinity – Painting Music 2019: Videos, CD cover

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/09/29/cd-review-carsten-dahl-trinity-painting-music-2019-videos-cd-cover/
- Published: 2019-09-29T19:32:16+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**It is such that the universe has a sound and rhythm. Everything moves forward,
either powerful and explosive or modest and like slow shadows in a landscape. **

The energy, which urges me into an artistic unfolding – is the power of the universe.
I am painted or played. I am thrown through these enormous rhythms and through the
interference of light and dark – and can only act as an instrument.

At the same time I am also like water. Everything moves me and everything mirrors
itself in me. Every wind makes the innermost in me sway and under the water an endless
depth seeks to be examined. I have never chosen art. It has been sitting on my back
like some kind of staurolite. It wants something from me, or rather – IT wants something
from me and with art as an instrument. Amounts of universal streams flow through
me and with such a speed that these impressions are communicated like an imprint
in my soul in a timeless fashion.

You immediately recognize them, the tunes of famous standards such as “All The Things
You Are,” “Somewhere Over The Rainbow,” or “Autumn Leaves,” but you think you hear
completely new tunes: The Danish pianist undresses on “Painted Music.” Carsten Dahl
consistently great classics of the jazz repertoire and makes it his own with his
own personal view.

Born in 1967, Dahl has been one of Europe’s outstanding jazz pianists for many years.
But he was late for his instrument, because at the age of nine he first started 
to play the drums, was almost a professional at 12 and was recorded at the renowned
Copenhagen Rytmisk Conservatory of Music at 18, where he studied with the famous
US drummer Ed Thigpen. Only then did he change to piano – an instrument he had not
had a single lesson before. So Dahl began the study again from scratch, first with
Jørgen Nielsen, then with his mentor Butch Lacy, whom Dahl still calls his greatest
influence.

Already this unusual way to his instrument shows the devotion that characterizes
Dahl’s self-understanding: “I have never chosen the art. She wanted something from
me – or better: it wanted something of mine, with art as an instrument, “he says.“
The universe has sound and rhythm. Everything strives forward, either powerful and
explosive or calm like shadows in a landscape. It is this energy, this power of 
the universe that drives me to artistic expression. I’m an instrument, and I’m painted
or played. ”

It seems that this primal force did not choose Carsten Dahl for no reason. His talent
was quickly obvious. Already his first band project Embla caused a sensation in 
the Danish jazz scene. An intense time of countless collaborations began. Dahl had
great success with his own projects and not only played with local and Scandinavian
stars like Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen or Cæcilie Norby, but also with international
greats like Didier Lockwood, Dave Liebman and Wynton Marsalis. In the more than 
25 years of his career Dahl has played on over 250 CDs and produced more than 30
of his own.

Awarded major prizes such as the Ben Webster Award, the Django D’Or, the Carl Nielsen
Prize or a Grammy nomination, Dahl is one of the most universal and extraordinary
artists on the European jazz scene. In all the diverse projects – from solo recordings
to orchestral works, from free jazz to Bach’s Goldberg Variations and The Well-Tempered
Clavier – Dahl’s handwriting is unmistakable. His inspiration comes from classical
and classical jazz as well as from Danish folk music, world music and modern music.
In addition, he devotes himself intensively to painting, as you can see impressively
on the cover motif of “Painted Music”, which comes from Dahl himself.

As ACT Owner and Producer Siggi Loch strives to bring together the best European
pianists on his label, it is time to introduce this “musicians musician”, still 
a secret tip in this country, to a wider audience. What could be more suitable for
this than Dahl’s – Trinity trio with bassist Nils Bo Davidsen and drummer Stefan
Pasborg, who have already been compared to Keith Jarrett: “That’s my favorite constellation.
We’ve been playing together for years with my larger band Experience, and it felt
like we were painting together on a canvas and merging our perceptions into a single
spirit. This is indeed a rare, precious experience in music, “enthuses Dahl.

With eight cover versions from the Danish folk song to Miles Davis’ “Solar” as well
as two co-written own compositions, the three of us share in this magic. They are
always strong melodies, first introduced gently, then handed over to Dahl’s inexhaustible
ingenuity, which transforms them into a common improvisation into each of the original
works of this Trinity. In fact a musical painting, fascinating and captivating.

 1.  Sailing with No Wind (5:34)
 2.  All the Things You Are (6:07)
 3.  Somewhere over the Rainbow (6:43)
 4.  Jeg gik mig ud en Sommerdag (4:18)
 5.  Bluesy in Different Ways (4:11)
 6.  Solar (2:43)
 7.  Be My Love (8:22)
 8.  You and the Night and the Music (5:08)
 9.  Blue in Green (4:48)
 10. Autumn Leaves (6:32)

**Carsten Dahl / piano**
 **Nils Bo Davidsen / bass** **Stefan Pasborg / drums**

![Image result for Carsten Dahl Trinity - Painting Music](https://i0.wp.com/shop.
new-art.nl/content/img/new_products/1564130616.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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