'Wavemakers' marks the latest release from pianist and visual artist Alex Ventling whose sensational new album delivers a standout amongst his burgeoning catalogue.
New Zealand-born and Norway-based, Ventling's journey to date has taken him across the world with a minor pitstop in New York to attend the New York Film Academy, before ultimately side-stepping the prestigious Berklee College of Music for the Jazzcampus Basel where he completed his Masters in Jazz Piano and Music Pedagogy.
Ventling's commitment to his music and to his art has led to some outstanding moments within his comparatively young career. Consistently keen to recontextualize his music in accordance with the litany of incredible collaborators that he is able to collaborate and make music with, Ventling has released duo projects alongside guitarist Hein Westgaard ('In Orbit', 2023) and drummer Phelan Burgoyne ('The View', 2024), led his Alex Ventling Trio from Norway to New Zealand in 2020 for an epic run of ten concert performances across two weeks, and of course we have Alex Ventling's quartet project, Alex & The Wavemakers.
Initially debuting in 2018 with their self-titled release, the quartet's original incarnation boasted the esteemed distinction of featuring vocalist and pianist Yumi Ito as part of the line-up. Ito's presence serves as a real treat especially when considering the team-up with Ventling as something of an inspired combination in of itself. And while the 2018 album was without doubt a fantastic project, the band's evolved state seven years later presents a line-up that affords a reimagining of the quartet's original sound allowing for expansive new narratives soundscapes to take shape. Waving the flag for The Wavemakers for this go-round, and performing alongside Ventling on piano, is violinist Tuva Halse, vibraphonist Amund Stenøien and drummer August Glännestrand.
It's a quartet with an entirely new context and one that soars within a lush collage of sound that navigates a masterfully charted course across the album's nine compositions. Ventling and company boast an innate ability to create these beautiful pieces that present the rich elegance of neo-classical stylings while still serving as inspired celebrations of ambient and free jazz at the same time. So much of the music throughout 'Wavemakers' boasts such visceral and vivid textures that it's actually no surprise that Ventling can lay claim to being an accomplished photographer as well: whether consciously or not, Ventling's music is almost conceived with these visual aspects in mind which are a tribute to the intimate and intricate nature of each musician's performance as individuals and as a cohesive quartet.
Vocalist Sissel Vera Pettersen guests on 'Omaha' and skilfully embeds her vocal into the comfort of the musicians around her, never trying to outdo them, and contributing to a wonderfully harmonious soundscapes as a result.
Within the context of Alex Ventling's ever-expanding catalogue of music, 'Wavemakers' stands as a confident and self-assured entry. It's a project that manages to showcase a wide variety of Ventling influences and a project that does marvellous justice to everything that has brought the pianist and his team to this moment.
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