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Aadal — Lost Songs
(Apollon Records ARP061, 2022, CD / LP / DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-06-13

Lost Songs Cover art

For their second outing on Apollon Records, jazz quartet Aadal gives us a set of ten pieces that live somewhere between jazz and mellow instrumental rock. The group takes its name from guitarist Michael Aadal, and he’s assisted by Audun Ramo (bass), Gunnar Sæter (drums), and André Kassen (tenor sax); all the writing is by Aadal, and he seems to be in a very mellow mood for the duration. The group’s debut album featured some more energetic fusion-oriented tracks, but Lost Songs sticks to the mellow side. The melodies are pretty good, and the pieces don’t end up sounding like the dreaded (by me, at least) Smooth Jazz style. The perfect setting for this music would be a classy restaurant where everything is overpriced and nobody is listening to the band, but the management feels live music is part of the package. If I were in this restaurant, I’d glance up to the bandstand, listen for a minute, and then ignore them for the remainder of the evening, regarding them as decent craftsmen doing something that doesn’t interest me. Their presence is tolerable as long as they don’t get loud enough to drown out conversation. But I wouldn’t buy their record, and if they gave me one, I’d never listen to it. This is music for a certain type of mood, mellow and distracted, but it’s not a mood I’m ever likely to be in. Did I mention that it’s mellow?

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Aadal

 

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