Terje Rypdal Lux Aeterna

Lux Aeterna

Luminous Galaxy

Orchestral Interlude

Fjelld pen

Organ Interlude

Lux Aeterna

Terje Rypdal guitar

Palle Mikkelborg trumpet

Iver Kleive church organ

shild Stub Gundersen soprano

Terje Rypdal

Kjell Seim conductor

"Lux Aeterna" is one of the most classically-oriented albums of jazz that you are ever likely to hear, not in the sense of The Classical Jazz Quartet nor the contrasts of Turnage & Scofield's "Scorched", but more in the integral sense of a violin concerto. In fact it is symphonic in its proportions, Rypdal's heavily synthetic guitar soaring violin-like above the thunderingly dark church organ crashing far below. Jarrett's "Dark Intervals" was only enough to worry the dead but ironically "Lux Aeterna" ("Eternal Light") has the power to summon Hades.

Huge distances divide parallel elements in the music. It is no coincidence that Lux Aeterna has the the same barren Icelandic sparsity as Davis' "Aura", Mikkelborg produced and played on that with the same sinewy fragility as he does here.

Amongst all this classical poise and airiness, down deep Rypdal also shows his musical understanding and popular past with a Beatles sensibility for those delayed bridges and lingering endings rife in George Martin's production of "Sgt Pepper's...", "Yellow..." and "Abbey...". Late on we're also given respite from the gravitational mass with a stunningly beautiful Aria for soprano with Germanic detatchment along the lines of Strauss' "Four Last Songs". Dark intelligent music for emotional ears.