Producer Manfred Eicher (who had admired Kuhn’s work since the 1966 album The October Suite), came to New York in September 1974 to record the quartet album Trance, and then mixed the record at Oslo’s Arne Bendiksen Studio. During the mixing session, Eicher suggested that Kuhn record a solo album the next day. “It was the furthest thing from my mind, “Kuhn recalls, “and I didn’t sleep the night before. I had only done a flew solo concerts at that point – half concerts, really, as part of a tour with Oregon – so I had to come up with a point a view quickly. But Manfred led me through it, and was quite helpful as a guide, as he always is when he believes in a project.”
Ecstasy, the resulting album, is among the most melodically fertile and emotionally expansive recitals from a period that (thanks in large part to ECM) reestablished the solo improvising pianist’s art. It contains five of Kuhn’s most lyrical compositions: “Silver” (his nickname for Zetterlund, and one of his earliest recorded pieces), “Ulla” (later retitled “Remembering Tomorrow”), And three pieces he would reprise five years later with Sheila Jordan, plus the improvised “Prelude In G.”
Kuhn is closer to the energy surges of Don Pullen than the introspection of Bill Evans or the orchestrated grids of Ahmad Jamal. - Bob Blumenthal
Tracks
01. Silver
02. Prelude In G
03. Ulla
04. Thoughts Of A Gentleman – The Saga Of Harrison Crabfeathers
05. Life´s Backward Glance
STEVE KUHN piano
All compositions by Steve Kuhn
Recorded November 1974 at Arne Bendiksen Studio, Oslo
ECM 1058