Album review: Christian Wallumrod Ensemble, Outstairs (ECM)

Somewhere in the intersecting corridors of jazz, modernist composition, Scando-folk and early church music, there’s a small interior chamber that’s not quite silent, and this is what you’ll find there.

Wallumrod’s ensemble comprises his own keyboards, trumpet, tenor sax, violin/viola, cello and percussion. They move in small groupings at slow pace and make a big thing out of tiny details. Simple motifs carry the weight of mountain ranges. There are no molehills.