Jon Balke and the Magnetic North Orchestra “Kyanos” [ECM records]

Very very cool jazz from pianist Balke and his Scandinavian septet. “Kyanos” means “blue” in Greek, and this record makes me wish I chain-smoked and lived in basements flooded with blue light. It’s an 11-”movement” jazz suite that’s relaxed, restrained, and so in control that it almost seems like the movements track into each other. Very soothing, even when they insist on drawing unusual sounds from their instruments.

-Cujo, June 2004

Ann Arbor likes tracks 3,4,8,9