jazzmatazz | upcoming | recent | reviews | books | links | musicians | labels | sale list | stores | sweetnighter

previous review | reviews home | next review

Palle Mikkelborg/Kenneth Knudson/Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson

Imagine
(Storyville)

The Mikkelborg/Knudson/Pederson trio's version of the John Lennon's song "Imagine" was popular when this trio album, originally called Heart to Heart, was first released in 1986—hence its retitling in this reissue.

Trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg is best known in the United States for his work with Terje Rypdal and Jan Garbarek in the 1970s for ECM Records and his composition, "Aura," for Miles Davis in 1984. Mikkelborg had been playing in the Danish jazz scene for quite some time—he was a member of the Danish Radiojazzgrup from 1963-72.

I like Mikkelborg's Miles Davis-influenced electric trumpet playing and his Gil Evans-influenced writing and NHØP's bass, but I'm not as fond of Kenneth Knudsen's electric keyboards and compositions—they sound a bit new-age-ish and haven't aged that well.

— Alan Lankin, December 2000