Jazz

Pixel: We Are All Small Pixels

We Are Small Pixels

Music
by Pixel | Jun 23, 2014

Music

Sonics

Pixel is a young Norwegian jazz quartet whose lead vocalist, bassist, and principal songwriter, Ellen Andrea Wang, is adept at all those roles. Their sound combines jazz elements with a pop sensibility during the vocal numbers that constitute about half the album. At times they may remind you of such early fusion artists as Weather Report, Passport, or Flora Purim—Wang’s bouncy bass lines, for example, have some Jaco in them— but this all-acoustic band has opted for a much more natural-sounding recording. The piano-less lineup of drums, double bass, sax, and trumpet gives each instrument room to breathe and helps produce an uncluttered sound augmented by a nimble rhythm section. Contrast is provided on “Night Dreamer,” “Sigma,” and “Daylight,” where saxophonist Harald Lassen switches from soprano to tenor and the band raises the energy level a few notches. Catchy melodies belie the intricacy of the music, beginning with the tricky vocal-and-horn unison lines, all delivered with razor-sharp precision and captured in a pristine and detailed recording. This accessible young band, true to jazz but with a fresh approach, renews my conviction that new artists exist who, with a little exposure, could help jazz reach a broader audience.

More Info

Media	CD
Label	Cuneiform
Contributors	Pixel Primary artist

By Jeff Wilson

This will take some explaining, but I can connect the dots between pawing through LPs at a headshop called Elysian Fields in Des Moines, Iowa, as a seventh grader, and becoming the Music Editor for The Absolute Sound. At that starting point—around 1970/71—Elysian Fields had more LPs than any other store in Des Moines. Staring at all the colorful covers was both tantalizing and frustrating. I had no idea who most of the artists were, because radio played only a fraction of what was current. To figure out what was going on, I realized that I needed to build a record collection—and as anyone who’s visited me since high school can testify, I succeeded. Record collecting was still in my blood when, starting in the late 1980s, the Cincinnati Public Library book sale suddenly had an Elysian Fields quantity of LPs from people who’d switched to CDs. That’s where I met fellow record hawk Mark Lehman, who preceded me as music editor of TAS. Mark introduced me to Jonathan Valin, whose 1993 detective novel The Music Lovers depicts the battles between record hawks at library sales. That the private eye in the book, Harry Stoner, would stumble upon a corpse or two while unraveling the mystery behind the disappearance of some rare Living Stereo platters made perfect sense to me. After all, record collecting is serious business. Mark knew my journalistic experience included concert reviews for The Cincinnati Enquirer and several long, sprawling feature articles in the online version of Crawdaddy. When he became TAS music editor in 2008, he contacted me about writing for the magazine. I came on board shortly after the latest set of obituaries had been written for vinyl—and, as fate had it, right when the LP started to make yet another unexpected comeback. Suddenly, I found myself scrambling to document all the record companies pressing vinyl. Small outfits were popping up world-wide, and many were audiophile-oriented, plus already existing record companies began embracing the format again. Trying to keep track of everything made me feel, again, like that overwhelmed seventh grader in Elysian Fields, and as Music Editor I’ve found that keeping my finger on the pulse of the music world also requires considerable detective work. I’ve never had a favorite genre, but when it comes time to sit down and do some quality listening, for me nothing beats a well-recorded small-group jazz recording on vinyl. If a stereo can give me warmth and intimacy, tonal accuracy, clear imaging, crisp-sounding cymbals, and deep, woody-sounding bass, then I’m a happy camper.