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“Erode” is the preeminent example, building from its chord-driven sound builds into highly dramatic passages like the kind found in the best of slow-burning contemporary rock. The bulk of the album though is the latter, dramatic pieces that build out from sturdy chords or initial forms. While there are sections of other compositions that carry this same fusion,

The closing piece is a cover of Big Thief’s “Vegas.” Hirvonen’s open tuning creates an uplifting, lush melding of the guitar and the Bass VI, creating an infectious, earthy sonic. Like a warm welcome, its mysterious, and hypnotic sonics introduce the merging of jazz and Americana, setting the tone for the album. They kick off with the title track which has the kind of simple folk-like melody we associate with Bill Frisell.

Let’s take the former first, which are essential bookends to the album. The tunes fall into two major camps – the jazz-Americana fusion and those that build from sturdy chords into more explosive rock-like pieces. The recording is live with the trio gathered in a single room without separation. The instrument creates sounds more associated with country and alternative music.

Not only does it fuse jazz with Americana, but he adds slide guitar, and fashions an airier, lighter overall sonic due to both his own playing and that of bassist Kenney, who plays a Fender Bass VI, a thin-necked six-string bass guitar that is tuned an octave below a normal guitar. Yet, the sound on this recording, Kielo, also on Ropeadope, is a whole different sound, forged during the pandemic lockdown. He formed his trio with bassist Marty Kenney and drummer Nathan Ellman-Bell eight years ago and recorded the progressive, distortion-laden New Helsinki (2017) (Edition) and Displace (2019) (Ropeadope) with them. Since moving to the states, he’s played jazz, played in the bands Big Heart Machine and Liddie, and done mostly experimental improv work. Olli Hirvonen, originally from Finland but based in New York City since 2011, developed his guitar sound in his native land, steeped in classical, Nordic ECM-like jazz, progressive rock, and metal.