Hullyboo: Farkost
Øra Fonogram

If on its first Øra Fonogram outing Hullyboo plays with the kind of ease and assurance one associates with groups of long-standing, it's easily explained: the Norwegian jazz outfit's currently celebrating its tenth year as a band, though the initial trio configuration of guitarist Marius Hirth Klovning, double bassist Bjørnar Kaldefoss Tveite, and drummer Mats Mæland Jensen has been expanded to include tenor saxist Tore Brunborg and trumpeter Jakob Eri Myhre.

That the English translation for the Norwegian album title is 'vessel' also makes sense, given the fluidity of the interactions between the players and the naturalness of the progressions within the nine performances. A satisfying amount of ground is covered by the typical Farkost composition, although only one pushes past the five-minute mark. Hullyboo apparently prefers to keep its statements direct and concise, the absence of longwindedness one of the recording's selling-points. Another attraction is the equal emphasis placed on tonal melodic structures and soloing, and the group also refreshingly favours a subdued attack, its self-produced album rarely escalating to a raucous broil.

At album's start, “Varkala” nicely captures the band's relaxed interplay, Brunborg and Myhre handling the unison voicing of the mellifluous theme, Klovning nudging the pulse with the repetition of a syncopated chord, Tveite a stable presence, and Jensen a swirl of rambunction. At four minutes, the tune's short by jazz standards, yet the group uses the time to maximum advantage, the performance growing ever more tumultuous as it advances and the horns indulging in freewheeling, contrapuntal solo statements.

With Jensen trading sticks for brushes and Klovning on acoustic, the breezy “Melwee” opts for a quieter delicacy that in spirit could be described as jazz injected with a smattering of country swing. Other cuts similarly accentuate the band's gentler side, “Fredag”and the hushed “Insomnia” cases in point. At album's end, Brunborg's contributions amplify the mysterious character of “Blikkstille” whilst also imbuing the performance with a rather ECM-like quality. The saxist and trumpeter are, naturally, the primary soloists, and both rise to the challenge splendidly, each often playing with a warm, burnished tone though there are occasions where the two opt for bold acrobatics.

June 2019