Mathias Eick

Norwegian multi-instrumentalist and trumpeter Mathias Eick cultivates a reflective, atmospheric approach to jazz. Beyond putting out several recordings as a leader, he functions as a preferred collaborator for numerous projects. Affiliated with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra as well as the forward-looking jazz and electronic unit Jaga Jazzist, he has joined forces with Manu Katche, Iro Haarla, Pat Metheny, and singer-songwriter Thomas Dybdhal. On trumpet, Eick follows in the lineage of Kenny Wheeler, Chet Baker, Miles Davis, and Enrico Rava. His first solo album, The Door, came out on ECM in 2008. Skala, his second release for the label, surfaced in 2011. After years spent touring and partnering with additional artists, among them the jazz-rock band Motorpsycho and Lars Danielson, he issued Midwest in 2015 and then Ravensburg in 2018. In 2021 he unveiled When We Leave, performed by a septet.

Eick entered the world in the Norwegian village of Hem in 1979. He is the brother of jazz musicians Johannes Eick and Trude Eick. Piano studies began at age five, with a switch to trumpet occurring the following year. Both parents played music, and instruments filled the family living space. At the Trondheim Music Academy he concentrated on trumpet and bass. Earlier, high school studies at Toneheim Folkehøyskole centered on music, while later enrollment at Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium focused on jazz. Numerous local rock and jazz groups featured him, and he contributed to multiple sideman sessions.

Joining the eclectic Jaga Jazzist in 2000 led to his appearance on their 2001 album A Livingroom Hush. Session and concert work followed with Norwegian acts including Motorpsycho, metal supergroup Arcturus, and The Gathering. His ECM debut as a sideman arrived in 2004 on guitarist Jacob Young's Evening Falls; he also participated in Iro Haarla's Northbound. The widely praised What We Must appeared from Jaga Jazzist in 2005. Further ECM contributions in 2007 included work with Young on Sideways and with drummer Manu Katche on the star-studded Playground. Additional sessions that year encompassed Ulver's Shadows of the Sun and Music for a While's Weill Variations. The International Jazz Festivals Organization bestowed the annual International Jazz Talent award on Eick in 2007.

The Door, Eick's first leader date for ECM, arrived in 2008. Sidemen on that recording comprised Stian Carstensen on pedal steel, Jon Balke on piano and electric piano, Auden Erlien on bass, and Audun Kleive on drums. Strong reviews emerged on both sides of the Atlantic, and sales proved solid across Europe. After European touring he returned in 2009 to record with Youn Sun Nah on Voyage, Inger Marie Gundersen on My Heart Would Have a Reason, and Silvertongue on Diamond Sky. He also received Norway's largest arts scholarship, the national Statoil Scholarship. In 2010 he appeared on Motorpsycho's Heavy Metal Fruit and on the blues project Scent of Reunion: Love Duets Across Civilizations by Mighty Sam McClain and Mahsa Vahdat. Jaga Jazzist released the acclaimed One-Armed Bandit that same year.

Further collaboration with Haarla occurred in 2011 on her lauded Vespers alongside Trygve Seim, Ulf Krokfors, and Jon Christensen. Skala, Eick's second ECM album, offered nine original compositions with a more contemporary, pop-inflected direction. Unusually, producer and label head Manfred Eicher permitted co-production. Still highly active, Eick contributed to at least seven albums during 2012, among them Motorpsycho's The Death Defying Unicorn, A Deeper Tone of Longing: Love Duets Across Civilizations with Mighty Sam McClain and Mahsa Vahdat, and Alexander Von Mehren's Aéropop.

The next year brought an extended headline tour of Europe plus numerous sideman performances, yet studio time remained available. Together with vocalist Elvira Nikolaisen he released the contemporary jazz ballads set I Concentrate on You for Grappa. Jaga Jazzist's Live with Britten Sinfonia also appeared. Eick's 2014 recording activity stayed demanding, encompassing at least seven projects that included dates with Lars Danielson, Tania Saleh, and the Eple Trio. His own Midwest emerged on ECM in 2015, performed by a quintet featuring pianist Jon Balke, violinist Gjermund Larsen, percussionist Helge Norbakken, and bassist Mats Eilertsen. Receiving strong notices, the album landed on year-end best-of lists worldwide. Eick spent the balance of 2015 and part of 2016 touring Europe while handling further sessions, among them albums by Beady Belle and Nathan Sykes. Although select concerts occurred in 2017, an intensive stretch of sideman work took precedence, resulting in appearances on no fewer than eight recordings that included Kari Ikonen's Ikonostasis, Kåre Kolve's live Interactions at Vossajazz, and Danielson's Libretto 3.

Ravensburg, Eick's fourth ECM album, came out in spring 2018. Named for his grandmother's home village, it marked the first occasion he handled both trumpet and vocals. Eight original compositions featured violinist Hakon Aase, pianist Andreas Ulvo, electric bassist Audun Erlien, and drummers/percussionists Thorstein Lofthus and Norbakken. Additional 2018 credits included Chick Corea and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra's What Game Shall We Play Today and Batagraf's Delights of Decay. The following year he composed "No Storm" for Tora Augestad and performed on her album Dialogue.

September 2021 brought When We Leave, Eick's fifth leader release for ECM. Captured across two days in November 2020, the sessions utilized a septet comprising violinist Hakon Aase, pianist Andreas Ulvo, Erlien on bass, Lofthus and Norbakken on drums, and Carstensen on pedal steel.