The Norwegian pianist/composer Christian Wallumrod is best known for a series of meditative and discreetly genre-blending group albums for ECM, but he waited until he was in his 40s to make this solo album, on which he recorded six diverse pieces in a variety of venues and on several grand pianos. Wallumrod has something of a reputation for musical reticence, but while there are quiet electronic/ambient episodes here (the two Farkunst pieces are brooding exercises in shimmering metallic sounds, deep-toned sighs and distant thundering), some of the music is unexpectedly playful. The languidly walking Boyd 1970 sounds like an engagingly somnambulent blend of Keith Jarrett and Thelonious Monk; Hoksang sounds like a folk song; School of Ekofisk is a trickle of deep melody that slowly spreads out and then turns to a teeth-chattering top-end rattle; and the softly rocking Lassome is like early Abdullah Ibrahim. Pianokammer will be a fascinating surprise for Wallumrod fans, though perhaps it doesn’t push this promising new agenda quite far enough to make too many new ones.
