| Jazz |
A Belated Arrival, a Timeless Statement: Simon Linnert Trio’s “Sayeh” Illuminates the Path Between Eras
Sometimes, albums don’t arrive right on cue. They slip in quietly, a bit late, almost like whispered secrets meant to find us when we’re ready. Such is the case with Sayeh, the latest project from the Simon Linnert Trio. But delay, here, is no detriment, because this is an album outside of time. Its artistic proposition transcends calendars, offering a rare confluence of three remarkable musicians whose interplay feels at once ancient and freshly imagined.
The album elegantly weaves original compositions with thoughtful reinterpretations of works by Carla Bley, Andrew Hill, Paul Motian, Wayne Shorter, and Thelonious Monk. These selections are not merely tributes but threads in a larger tapestry. The trio doesn’t just look back, they bridge decades of jazz expression, drawing as much from the nuanced cadences of European traditions as from the raw spirit of American improvisation. The result is a musical narrative as clear and unforced as spring water, where the past is not a relic but a living, breathing presence.
At the heart of the record is Simon Linnert, whose vision guides the project with undeniable gravitas. Yet, this is not a one-man show. Drummer Ariel Mednard and bassist Jonatan Andersson are far from accompanists, they are co-conspirators in a shared exploration. Their synergy is palpable from the opening bars, in which Linnert’s deeply expressive playing sets the tone: raw, insightful, unafraid. Mednard and Andersson respond in kind, matching his emotional intelligence with technical brilliance. Their trio achieves something rare: a sound rooted in tradition, but constantly probing outward, lyrical yet abstract, contemplative yet forward-leaning.
Linnert’s own story reads like that of a restless spirit, echoing the arc of legendary keyboardist Joe Zawinul, another musician too expansive for easy classification. Born into the vibrant jazz scene of Copenhagen, Linnert rose quickly, becoming a teenage fixture in the city’s clubs. But conservatory life left him cold. He departed early in search of something more personal, more honest. His studies took him across the Atlantic, where he studied under pianist Sophia Rosoff, the boundary-defying Jason Moran, and saxophonist David Binney. Then came a long silence, a decade away from music, a retreat that led him to Portland, Oregon. But in 2017, he relocated to Brooklyn. There, under the soft glow of late-night sets at the Village Vanguard, something stirred. Improvisation returned to him like an old friend, and by 2020, Of Visions marked his re-emergence.
Sayeh, in many ways, is a crystallization of that journey. When we speak of the clarity of Linnert’s artistic intent, this is what we mean. The album bears the marks of a mature artist, one who has not only interrogated what a piece of music should be, but who has also wrestled with its sonic form, its emotional weight, and its placement in the cultural continuum. Revisiting the work of jazz legends is, for this trio, not merely homage; it’s a map. These choices reveal where they stand, on the shoulders of giants, but they also announce where they are headed. And where they’re going is uncharted, visceral, free.
This freedom, however, isn’t chaotic. Like thought itself, often erratic, nonlinear, instinctual, the album flows with the natural rhythm of introspection. It sounds, at moments, like what the trio might offer in a live performance: a poetic act of collective soul-searching, directed not at perfection but at truth. It’s this honesty that animates the music, that makes it feel, paradoxically, both composed and improvised, structured and spontaneous.
Is Sayeh a portrait of our wandering souls? Perhaps. But that question doesn’t demand an answer so much as a surrender. You let yourself be carried. By the tenderness of a phrase. By a melodic turn that surprises. By a silence that says more than notes ever could. This album may well be an ode to life itself, fragile, luminous, and fleeting, like a summer morning when the sun stretches across the horizon and birds begin to sing.
Nothing here is accidental. Even its apparent freedom is crafted within shared constraint. Sometimes sparse, sometimes rich with complexity, this record reveals a trio unafraid of where their instincts lead. And that, above all, is its magic: the courage to move unexpectedly, yet always with purpose.
Sayeh is a gift to jazz lovers, those who cherish both the familiar and the unknown, the grounded and the ethereal.
Thierry De Clemensat
Member at Jazz Journalists Association
USA correspondent for Paris-Move and ABS magazine
Editor in chief – Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, June 17th 2025
Follow PARIS-MOVE on X
::::::::::::::::::::::::
Musicians :
Simon Linnert | Piano
Richard Andersson | Bass
Allan Mednard | Drums
Tracklist :
Ida Lupino
Once Around The Park
Sayeh I
Erato
Nefertiti
Thelious
Sayeh II
Boo Boo’s Birthday
Sayeh III
Nūr-e chashm