In 2020, Ebba Åsman suddenly disappeared from Rotterdam. Early that year, jazz club Bird organised a series of jam sessions around the Swedish trombonist, but the last night, she didn’t show up. Åsman, who studied at Rotterdam’s Codarts, had got off to a flying start in the previous year: she played at North Sea Jazz with her band GreyHeads and NPO broadcaster made a documentary about her life as a musician. Zoom Out (2019) was her impressive calling card. The highlight of this debut album, which sounded relaxed and exciting at the same time, was “Middelland”, dedicated to her Rotterdam home district.
Back in Sweden, Åsman recorded the EP Be Free, on which she not only played trombone but also sang. Because women in music are often expected to be singers, she first wanted to master her instrument to perfection, she explained.
To compose the music of her recently released When You Know, she retreated to a remote cabin for a month. As the outside temperature dropped to minus 30 degrees, she focused entirely on writing new material without being distracted by email, social media or news reports. In a style midway between the melodic expanse of Scandinavian jazz and the driving beats and electronic soundscapes from the London music scene Åsman’s singing voice takes centre stage on her new album.
In Bird, Åsman and her accompanists are welcomed by a 30-strong audience. In the opening tune “What I Want”, Åsman repeats the telling line: ‘We all just want to come home.’ The deep bass tones come from a Moog keyboard played by Jessica Tjörnmark. Drummer Sebastian Ågren keeps things completely tight from the start. Keyboardist Manne Skavenstedt lays down some languid chords. Only during the second track does Åsman put her striking black trombone to her lips, suddenly giving the music a freer character.
The group mainly performs songs from When You Know. As on that album, Tjörnmark unobtrusively sings a second voice that matches Åsman’s well. For When You Know, the trombonist braided improvised parts through her own vocals, but she does not venture into that on stage.
Just when you realise that the songs are starting to sound a bit similar, Ågren stirs the music up by going brisk. Skavenstedt also chooses freedom and Tjörnmark trading in her Moog for an electric bass guitar makes the grooves undulate nicely. When Åsman turns on the effects pedal of her trombone, the heyday of jazz rock seems to be revived for a moment.
After a good hour, the bandleader announces her last song: “It’s really the last one, because we don’t do encores,” she adds. In the slowly played “Power Through”, Åsman is at her best. This song written in the freezing cold shows a warm heart and an open mind. The trombone produces an inviting, compelling melody, followed by the imploringly sung words: ‘Together we’re stronger / together we’ll make it.’
Those who want more may queue in front of the table behind which Åsman moves during the closing applause: ‘I bought a fancy pen this afternoon to sign my vinyl albums.’
