With Subaqueous Silence, Japanese pianist Ayumi Tanaka - following on from her contributions to Thomas Strønen's albums Lucus and Bayou - presents an extremely independent leader debut for ECM. Bassist Christian Meaas Svendsen, drummer Per Oddvar Johansen and the pianist met a decade ago, shortly after Tanaka's arrival in Oslo, and have been honing a common musical language ever since. Tanaka moved to Scandinavia because of her keen interest in the music of Norwegian improvisers, but at the same time speaks of a growing awareness of her own cultural roots. Her piano playing is marked by an ascetic austerity, but at the same time reveals a particular sense of space that hints at an affinity for Japanese classical music. Ayumi sees the trio as a "chamber music ensemble. Energy flows between us even when it's quiet". Christian Meaas Svendsen makes his first appearance on ECM with Subaqueous Silence; Per Oddvar Johansen's subtle approach has already distinguished recordings with Trygve Seim, Christian Wallumrød and others.