This encounter is partly a reunion, partly the birth of something new. Swedish bassist Lars Danielsson and British guitarist John Parricelli have been friends for a long time. Together, they have made five albums with the ACT label since 2009 – including the remarkable Tarantella and Liberetto. Meanwhile, Finnish trumpeter Verneri Pohjola is almost a newcomer – he only met John the day before the recording, in the bar of the train bound for Bordeaux. However, he is a welcome addition to the tandem, with his subdued energy and a velvety sound that pairs seamlessly with the purple salon of Château Palmer where their first joint album is being written.

Lars’ double bass takes pride of place in the centre of the room, surrounded by microphones and pedalboards. The old vines that give us the very finest wines stand on the Plateau des Brauzes in the background. John sits beside Lars, tuning his acoustic guitar designed by luthier Manuel Bellido: “This guitar is a dream of mine – if I had to keep just one, this would be it!” At the other end of the room, Verneri experiments boldly on the trumpet, making the brass whisper before suddenly screeching or hissing in a skilful blend of rigour and liberation – a mix in keeping with the record they managed to create in just four days of gentle alchemy on the banks of the estuary.

CHÂTEAU PALMER : What led to the serendipitous combination or, to borrow a term from the wine world, the assemblage, of your three talents?

LARS DANIELSSON : ACT’s CEO, Andreas Brandis, came up with the idea. He wanted to bring us together and create this trio. John and I know each other very well of course – we’ve made five albums together. But I now feel the same way about Verneri. I had only played alongside him once or twice, but I immediately sensed that we shared the same groove, a very strong connection. With him, I don’t need to explain what I want. He understands everything instinctively.
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VERNERI POHJOLA : When I was offered a place in this trio, I jumped at the chance. It’s a much tighter group, providing far more space and freedom than a quartet or a quintet. But there is also more responsibility. Lars’ music is delicate, fragile, very close to chamber music in fact. The hue of the instruments is essential; you have to stay focused, listen to the others, feel when to improvise, and allow yourself to take up space. It’s a subtle art.

LARS DANIELSSON : My compositions are usually written for piano. For this album, I wanted to go in a different direction. I decided to do without the keyboard and drums, to free up space for other sound textures and achieve a more acoustic, pared-down feel. I chose songs – covers or previously unreleased tracks – that provided the musicians with as much freedom as possible.

We’ve just recorded a jazzy version of “La Chanson d’Hélène”, a song by Philippe Sarde featured in Claude Sautet’s film Les Choses de la vie. We also had fun covering the Gershwin standard, “Summertime” – with a uniquely fast groove, close to the “ostinato” that I experimented with a few years ago – and “Mood Indigo”, the Duke Ellington track, also featuring my own personal arrangement. Lastly, I created several pieces especially for this album, including “Le Calme au château”, a track inspired by the serenity of the magnificent setting in which we are recording.

“Lars’ music is delicate, fragile, very close to chamber music in fact”
Verneri Pohjola

CHÂTEAU PALMER : The chateau’s Second Empire salons must be a change from your usual studios…

LARS DANIELSSON : What is particularly special here is that we’re playing in the same room. Normally, I don’t like to hear my double bass amplified. But in the château, it works well; there is a lovely, natural reverberation, muffled by the curtains and the carpets.

JOHN PARRICELLI : In the studio, we usually record in separate rooms with headphones on. Deep down, we know that if we miss a note, we can easily re-record it later. But here, we’re recording live, together, in the same room. It’s more like a performance with a more intense energy. We’re more focused, more involved. Most of the tracks are recorded in one take.
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VERNERI POHJOLA : Andreas asked me to bring a flugelhorn, an instrument I hadn’t touched for four years. I was a little apprehensive, but in the end, I was happy to play it on one of the tracks. I can see that my technical palette has broadened and I am feeling increasingly confident. With this trio, the tempo quickly takes over.

CHÂTEAU PALMER : How do you strike a balance between each musician? Joachim Kühn and Michael Wollny, who launched the ACT x Château Palmer vinyl collection in 2023, talk about the art of improvisation as a “prepared conversation”. What does this definition inspire in you?

JOHN PARRICELLI : In my opinion, you have to listen carefully to the sound and find the best position for the whole to be harmonious. It’s up to each individual to choose the best space, neither too far back nor too far forward. You compose a piece in the same way as an image, like a photograph; you have to find your place in the frame. You have to build a shared, balanced structure.

VERNERI POHJOLA : Improvisation goes beyond dialogue or conversation, it has to pass through your body, fly out of it, become charged with a visceral, unthinking electricity. You have to avoid getting caught in your own head, otherwise the magic evaporates. The music has to pierce you, invade you, take you beyond yourself.

“You compose a piece like you do a photograph; you have to find your place in the frame”
John Parricelli

CHÂTEAU PALMER : Lars and John, has your approach to playing evolved over the years as you have grown closer?
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LARS DANIELSSON : We’ve played so much together that we have certainly become closer. The result is that we can take more risks. We allow ourselves to play very rhythmic tracks, sometimes close to free jazz, pushing the offbeat notes – what we call “rubato” playing – further and offering more freedom for improvisation.
Having John by my side is fantastic. He’s a master when it comes to creating tracks. He doesn’t just think about how he should play his score, he thinks about the entire piece, about enhancing the composition. He has this gift for finding tiny, hidden detail that transform any sound. He doesn’t accompany me; he co-invents.

JOHN PARRICELLI : The first time we played together was as a duo for a fantastic Polish composer, Zbigniew Preisner, who was working on the soundtracks to Kieslowski’s films. Since then, we’ve regularly shared top billing at different events, playing with Tigran Hamasyan and Magnus Öström. Often, during sound checks, the two of us will just improvise together. Lars is quite simply a master of composition. He’s a unique double bass player, a virtuoso of melody, an excellent soloist, and he also has an incredible sense of tempo and groove – which cannot be said of everyone. Bassists often have one overarching quality, such as rhythm or solo playing, but not Lars; with him, the two come together.

CHÂTEAU PALMER : People often talk about a “Nordic sound” which blows hot and cold, stands out for its melodic purity and subdued elegance, and sometimes indulges in certain lyrical flourishes…
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LARS DANIELSSON : It’s difficult to define the essence of Scandinavian music. I think Nordic music offers a kind of purity, a special atmosphere, and often more melancholy than American jazz. We’ve all listened to musicians like Jan Garbarek and Jon Christensen, and Swedish folk standards. These references have certainly influenced us.
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VERNERI POHJOLA : When I was younger, I thought about giving up my music studies. But one evening, I went to a performance by Norwegian trumpeter Per Jørgensen. I rushed out and bought his album at my local record shop the very next day, and my life changed from the on. It was thanks to that album that I learned to improvise and compose – and most importantly, to invent my own form of musical dramaturgy. In a way, I owe my career to Nordic music!

LARS DANIELSSON : When I was a teenager, I listened to more Jimi Hendrix than Swedish music. My inspiration comes more from classical music, pop and folk pieces than from jazz as such. My music teacher was an organist and used to play Bach all the time, as well as religious hymns. This attachment to classical and chamber music is almost certainly what lends European jazz its distinct character.

JOHN PARRICELLI : Last night, over dinner, Siggi [Loch, founder of the ACT label] asked us what our three favourite jazz records were. All three of us included an album by the U.S. musician Keith Jarrett. This giant has often provided a link between American music and Europe, so it’s hardly surprising that we’re so drawn to him.

“This attachment to classical music is what lends European jazz its distinct character”
Lars Danielsson

CHÂTEAU PALMER : You have been playing in front of unobstructed views of the vineyards. Do you think there is a parallel between making a record and maturing a wine?

LARS DANIELSSON : I’m not familiar with the subtleties inherent to the art of winemaking, but I know an aesthete when I see one. As it happens, we were invited to dinner at the home of Thomas Duroux, the director of Château Palmer, and I was very impressed by his collection of jazz records. As soon as we started talking about a track, he’d get up on a ladder and pull it out for us. He played us a version of “Sentimental Mood” performed by Coltrane and Ellington in truly exceptional acoustic conditions; it sounded like Coltrane was playing right there in the room. You have to be really passionate to build up such a culture and to be that attentive to even the smallest details. Let’s just say that if he makes wine the same way, it really must be something!
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VERNERI POHJOLA : Before improvising, we have to put our heads together to keep coming up with new ideas. But there also comes a time when you instead have to forget, throw away the notes and just jump in. As if it were perfectly natural, as if the music were flowing all on its own. Above all, you have to avoid imitating or over-referencing. You should let your subconscious work and mature. That’s when the magic happens, when the real harvest begins!