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Kevin Kastning / Phil Grenadier / Bruno Råberg — Intervallum
(Greydisc GDR3594, 2025, CD )

by Peter Thelen, Published 2025-09-25

Intervallum Cover art

Intervallum is (in music, at least) the latin word for interval. Not too very long ago (about a year back) we reviewed an album titled In Visible Ascent by guitarist Kevin Kastning and trumpeter Phil Grenadier. For Intervallum they have brought in Swedish double-bassist Bruno Råberg to make this follow-up effort a trio; in fact the two sessions were recorded only a few weeks apart. For this session, Kastning uses his 30-string Double Contraguitar and his 36-string Double Contraguitar, both custom creations made by Emerald Guitars in Ireland, although Kastning designed them, and Grenadier plays trumpet and flugelhorn. Again, the feeling is dreamy and mysterious, probably a bit closer to a jazz sound than Kastning and company would normally get, no doubt due in part to the lead role of the horns and the free-wheeling bass patterns, though all three players get their time in the spotlight. Kastning manages the midzone with aplomb, with the power of coolness rarely found in guitarists, and the five tracks herein are credited to all three players. The nine-plus minute opener “Neither Daylight Nor...” offers some unusual textures near the piece’s end via the bowed bass, at  times almost like a subtle howling or screaming, but Råberg pulls that voice out of his bass. Next comes the seventeen-minute, two part “Shadow and Form,” where Grenadier is clearly leading the charge into battle, with outstanding support from Kastning’s ever busy shifting patterns and Råberg’s percussive bass moves; there is a clear break between the two parts, and as such they are listed as two tracks, as is the closer “Nightfall,” another two-part mini-epic, leading off with some gentle patterns on guitar, joined by bass in short order, before the horn co mes in after a minute and a half with a truly sublime melody before things get wilder and more experimental, eventually settling back into a jazz romp. Only five cuts here, but they are at once powerful and magnetic, something a listener can play over and over again without losing interest.

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Kevin Kastning

More info
http://kevinkastning.bandcamp.com/album/intervallum

 

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