Lyssarides, Joel - Stay Now (LP)

"For me, music is not about calculation; when I play, I follow my intuition. The creative impulse always comes from within me. My piano and I are at the center of my musical world."

For Joel Lyssarides, jazz is above all a language, a tool for unique personal expression. He composed the songs on Stay Now in a remote forest cabin, about half an hour's drive from Stockholm. Preferably at night, in silence, darkness, and deep concentration. The atmosphere of this place is clearly reflected in the music, which is strongly influenced by space, sound, and mood—and reinforced by the highly focused, differentiated, and subtle interaction between pianist Lyssarides, bassist Niklas Fernqvist, and drummer Rasmus Blixt. What these three young musicians have in common is their capacity for great sensitivity and expressiveness. Their music is based on a vocabulary that draws equally from European classical music, jazz from both sides of the Atlantic, and magnificent vocal music, with all its depth and accessibility. Yet this has nothing to do with crossover. Everything flows and swings, nothing feels deliberate or artificial, and you can hear a natural understanding of the infinite possibilities of each note. This trio has the confidence to put all its energy into improving the expressiveness of the music. And it is precisely in the most intimate, quietest, most focused and concentrated moments that the most wonderful things happen.