Norwegian drummer/composer Thomas Strønen presents a new lineup of his acoustic collective Time Is A Blind Guide with a new pianist in Wakayama-born Ayumi Tanaka. Tanaka has spoken of seeking associative connections between Japan and Norway in his improvisation, a tendency that Strønen seems to encourage with his spatially conscious writing for the ensemble.
The new sound seamlessly slips into the ensemble’s breathing rhythm, with a spare but very precise Ayumi Tanaka empathetically navigating her way across the keyboard, responsive to Strønen’s percussion, Ole Morten Vågan’s supple double bass work, and Håkon Aase’s lyrical violin interpretations. At times, the group’s three string instruments form a solid trio unit that engages in intimate dialogue with the piano and percussion, but most of the time the group’s pulse works as a whole, with each instrument dynamically sliding in and out of the music’s soundscape.
Thomas Strønen has recorded for ECM since 2005 when the label released his album Parish, with Bobo Stenson, Fredrik Ljungkvist and Mats Eilertsen. Since then, around ten albums have been released, the latest on December 5, 2025.
Ayumi Tanaka – piano
Håkon Aase – violin/ percussion
Leo Svensson Sander – cello
Ole Morten Vågan – bass
Thomas Strønen – drums/ compositions
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“By the end, one realizes that Off Stillness is as much a pilgrimage as an artistic statement. Its stories do not unfold in straight lines but in spirals, circling back to that teenage boy in Tønsberg who planted a seed that has now grown into a tree in its own right. The music invites repeated listening not to decipher it but to inhabit it, each return revealing new details, like light shifting across the same landscape at different hours. For all these reasons, it may well be—both in craft and in spirit—the ECM album of the year. There is truly nothing else like it.”
Tyran Grillo – Between sound & space
“The group’s previous recording Lucus (2018) garnered rave-reviews, with the German daily Nürnberger Nachrichten pinpointing exactly the strengths that make TIABG so unique, calling the ensemble “a musically, even philosophically open-minded quintet exploring outer space somewhere between baroque and folk. Questioning, hesitating, emphasising. This is jazz full of searching, longing, devoted to brittle beauty.” The same qualities are to the fore once more.”
Don Lucoff, DL Media Music
“Off Stillness” is another triumph: searching, delicately sculpted, and quietly radical. A standout in Strønen’s already distinguished ECM catalogue.
Mike Gates, UK Vibe