It's not every day that a label names a winery as a partner. ACT has done this for the second time, again with Château Palmer. This time, however, the well-known vineyard in Bordeaux was also the recording location. And TRIO, the new album by Swedish bassist and cellist Lars Danielsson, was recorded with Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola and British guitarist John Parricelli.

Of course, the PR can't contain itself and promises wholeheartedly that the recording has succeeded in capturing ‘the magic that arises when extraordinary artists come together in an extraordinary place’. The reaction to this predictable advertising slogan may be mixed. Not so for the music. Fortunately.

What Danielsson, Pohjola and Parricelli have recorded in a salon of the wine castle is characterised by intimacy. Le Calme au Château - Peace in the Castle - welcomes the listener with gentle acoustic sounds, as a kind of introduction to a 40-minute journey of relaxation. But not all of the tracks have Pohjola's trumpet purring so breezily, Parricelli plucking the acoustic guitar so classically and the bass making itself heard so delicately. The second track, Cattussella, seems to take up and continue the theme, with more freedom and the first solos.

Gold In Them Hills is an almost friendly title that provides the counterpart to the aristocratic mood of L'epoque. And Playing With The Groove is surprisingly lively, but even here you can sense that TRIO wants to be a restrained, emotional and breathing album. Of course, this is partly due to the instrumentation, which lacks any percussive element. No piano, no percussion, certainly no drums - this emphasises the supporting element of the sounds with a completely different intensity. This is exactly what relaxes the atmosphere.

The intimacy of TRIO is also emphasised by its mix: the instruments are placed quite close together, the guitar on the left, the trumpet on the right, bass and cello slightly in the background in the middle. That sounds compact and it is. At the same time, the set-up prevents the room from swallowing up the music. In the middle of it, instead of just in front of it, you might think. And sometimes it really does feel that way.

Chapeaux, au trio du Château! (Thomas Semmler, HighResMac)

Lars Danielsson, double bass & cello
Verneri Pohjola, trumpet
John Parricelli, guitar

Photo: Julien Mignot