Adam Forkelid - Dreams

Solo piano has always been one of the most expressive and revealing platforms for any pianist, and in the genre of jazz that holds as true today as it ever did. In fact, earlier this week we published our own genre guide charting its history, exploring key artists and albums across jazz. Of course, one can’t mention solo piano without referencing the sublime and fully improvised Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett – still the best-selling solo piano album of all time – and it is in this vein that our Recording of the Week choice joins that legacy, in the form of Adam Forkelid’s Dreams.

Though praised widely across his native Sweden, Forkelid is perhaps somewhat lesser known further afield. The pianist has an impressive record of collaborators however, from giants such as Maria Schneider and Nils Landgren, whilst his large-scale projects include collaborations with the Soundscape Orchestra and Norrbotten Big Band. In this latest venture Forkelid undertakes the colossal endeavour of a solo improvisatory concert, performed last year to an intimate audience of fifty members. Having only sketches of compositions before heading on to the stage, he was led by the atmosphere of the moment and the faces of those around him, had the concert recorded in all its authentic brilliance, and now releases it as his latest album Dreams.

The title is a huge indication as to the style of these improvisations, with all the track titles themselves known as ‘dreams’. Lyrical and melodic, these tunes are propelled by momentum and a luscious exploration of harmony, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. The first dream ‘Liminality’ does this perfectly: the spacious opening phrases are firmly in the mid-range of the piano, before heading to the bassier depths. Forkelid never stays put, though, and it’s not long until we’re up in the clouds with a folk-ish melody that’s smooth and calm before swapping back to the lower register. This interchange continues all the way through, brilliantly capturing the title and bordering between pitches without fully immersing the music in either. 

‘Time’ is Forkelid’s third dream, and the longest on the album. It explores a magnitude of musical space and tonal mood, building from a twinkling piano ostinato into something that is pensive but assured. ‘Repose’ is unexpected and angular with sporadic and edgy piano phrases, and the following dream ‘The Quiet Above’ is the balm afterwards, a delicate ripple that swells into a broad and expansive sound. The final dream ‘Strive’ concludes the album, a solo reimagining of the tune taken from a previous album, Turning Point. After being guided by Forkelid into these imaginative and unpredictable spaces, this piece encourages the listener to return to the moment and ground themselves in reality once more.

With Dreams, Forkelid, like Jarrett and countless others before him, channels the creativity and artistic freedom that comes hand in hand with solo piano improvisation. Leaving it up to the listener to decide what each dream means to them, he weaves a hypnotic spell through a melodic and lyrical space of unpredictability and expressive freedom, bordering the liminal line of what is real and what isn’t.