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Swedish pianist/composer
Bobo Stenson made a name for himself in the late '60s as one of Europe's finest players, accompanying visiting luminaries like
Gary Burton,
Sonny Rollins, and
Stan Getz.
Underwear, his 1971 debut as a leader, began an ongoing collaboration with
ECM Records and with drummer
Jon Christensen.
Christensen also joined
Stenson on sessions with
Jan Garbarek in the '70s and
Charles Lloyd in the '80s and '90s, and played in
Stenson's revamped trio along with
Anders Jormin. The Swedish Grammy-winning Reflections (1993),
War Orphans (1998), and
Serenity (2000) make the most of
Stenson's lyrical, versatile style and the players' long history of working together.
Christensen left the group after the
Serenity tour.
Stenson recorded a pair of albums for the Mirrors label with different ensembles, and self-titled duet album with saxophonist
Lennart Aberg in 2002 for Amigo, before returning to his trio work for
ECM with Goodbye in 2005. The latter set featured
Paul Motian in the drummer's chair.
Stenson and
Palle Danielsson co-led a band on 2007's Miles by Five for Touche Records. In 2007,
Jon Fält became the
Stenson trio's permanent drummer, first appearing on 2008's Cantando. This was followed by the trio date Indicum in 2012. The 12-track set included works by
Bill Evans,
George Russell, contemporary sacred composition, free group improv, traditional hymns, and jazz reads of
Carl Nielsen.
While the trio toured on occasion, they were absent from the recording studio for five years.
Stenson's trio re-emerged with
Contra La Indecisión in January of 2018. It was recorded the previous May at Lugano's Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI with producer
Manfred Eicher. The album's title track composed by
Silvio Rodríguez, was one of four "covers" on the date. Others included
Bartók's adaptation of a Slovak folk song, a piece from
Mompou's Cançons I Danses collection, and
Erik Satie's Elégie. These were strategically placed among
Stenson's and bassist
Anders Jormin's compositions along with a pair of group improvisations. ~ Heather Phares