Walking Dark Album review

Hi bass lovers!

Jasper Hoiby - Double bass player

Here it comes my personal review of "Walking dark" the fourth album edited by Phronesis. As i said earlier this band is led by the double bass player Jasper Hoiby. He is the leader but he is not the band. In this album we can clearly see that all musicians have a very strong contribution in the music composition. In the end, as a fan of bass and double bass above all other instruments, I humbly say that the pianist Ivo Neame and the drummer Anton Eger are both as good as Jasper Hoiby.

Now lets talk about the album. As i opened the CD case and read the title, the first impression was that i would be listening to a dark kind of jazz in the hours to come. The art and the title clearly suggest that. In my opinion that's not entirely true. In the album we find songs that take us to a melancholic state and others that made you feel kinda strange. For example, while listening to The economist I found myself with an huge desire to get up from my chair and start to dance like if i were in the middle of a dance club. On the other hand the four songs that come before the The economist are introspective and mysterious. The "dark" presented in the album starts in Charm defensive and ends in Zieding. Before that we can find very good songs where you can find all the power that comes from the double bass played by Jasper. For example in Suede Trees, a very "simple" music that can light up your day.

Anton Eger - Drummer

Ivo Neame - Pianist

My favorite songs off all are The economist and Zieding. That's were the irony comes, these songs are composed by the drummer Anton Eger (I feel that a couple of my friends won't shut up about this... I'll take that risk). In the The economist the synergy between Ivo Neame and Anton Eger is absolutely amazing, the results are described in the previous paragraph. My advice is that you don't listen to this album, especially this music, while you are in your pause at work... you can find yourself doing something stupid like i almost did.


In the end this is a totally must buy for a jazz lover. Here you can find some really good songs performed by really good musicians. One more time, Phronesis in their best. Note that this is a personal review, all the bright and dark are personal. I'm always open to positive or negative comments as long as their are constructive.

Walking Dark - Phronesis

Track list

1 - Walking Dark 

2 - Passing Clouds 

3 - Democracy 

4 - Suede Trees 

5 - Upside Down 

6 - Charm Defensive 

7 - Lipwash - part I 

8 - Lipwash - part II 

9 - Zieding 

10 - The Economist 

11 - American Jesus 

12 - Eight Hours

Posted in: Album Review,Jazz,Phronesis