Tellefs’ “Brooklyn Bar” unfolds like a nocturnal stroll through an intimate jazz club in a dream tinted city. The taragot, played by Tellef Kvifte, instantly commands the listener’s attention. Its reed timbre bridges folk resonance and jazz fluidity, offering both warmth and intrigue. With guitar, bass, and drums supporting, the ensemble feels rooted yet open, balancing traditional folk melodies with progressive harmonic shifts.
Rhythms move with a relaxed swagger at first, creating space for subtle improvisation. Each instrument enters deliberately. Guitar lines weave Celtic tinged motifs. Bass underpins each phrase with depth. Drum accents introduce gentle momentum. Together the trio builds a soundscape that feels both anchored and exploratory. The composition gently breathes, pausing before expanding into richer textures that reflect urban calm punctuated by bursts of character.
Kvifte’s melodic ideas reflect his classical and folk sensibilities, yet remain endowed with jazz inflected spontaneity. The taragot’s phrase shapes feel conversational, like a performer speaking with city lights as audience. Harmonies shift with subtle complexity, nodding to Eastern European folk, Norwegian roots, and Irish tradition, all reimagined through a jazz prism.
What stands out in “Brooklyn Bar” is its emotional clarity. What could be straightforward compositions instead reveal subtle arcs. Waxing brightness gives way to introspection, then rises again toward gentle resolution. There’s no urgency here, only presence, offered through instrumental storytelling with a poet’s precision.
“Brooklyn Bar” emerges as a highlight from Upstairs in a Tent, showing Tellefs’ ability to fuse tradition and improvisation. It is both danceable and reflective, a moment of quiet energy captured in sound. Whether one listens actively or drifts into its atmosphere, the track resonates, an elegant ode to genre blurring musicality that holds real feeling.
