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Jazz Articles about Håkon Mjaset Johansen
Pandemic Solution: Afterdog
by Troy Dostert
One hopes there will soon come a time in which the memories of the Covid crisis will fade conclusively, but until then its legacy seems likely to linger. As further evidence we have the ensemble Pandemic Solution, a trio originally assembled by pianist Norvald Dahl during the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. Although one might wish for an alternative name for the group--and the same goes for the inscrutable title of the release, Afterdog--there is no disputing the ...
Continue ReadingGard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra: Family
by Mark Corroto
Why can't all music be supersonic? That does not mean supersonic as in a speed exceeding that of sound, but sound that is sonically superlative. Drummer, composer, and bandleader Gard Nilssen's music is seemingly always sonically superb. His 17-piece Supersonic Orchestra was captured in 2022 at the Mondriaan Jazz Festival in Den Haag, Netherlands, for Family, his follow-up to If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours (Odin 2020). The Supersonic Orchestra is made up of seven saxophones ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen: Affirmation
by Mario Calvitti
Il contrabbassista norvegese Arild Andersen è uno dei protagonisti di quella generazione di musicisti (insieme a Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Jon Christensen, Bobo Stenson, Edward Vesala) che grazie all'etichetta ECM, nel cui catalogo è presente con regolarità fin dal lontano 1971, ha contribuito all'affermazione del jazz scandinavo fino ad allora praticamente sconosciuto. Per il suo più recente progetto ha costituito un nuovo quartetto chiamando a sé alcuni musicisti, anch'essi norvegesi, appartenenti a generazioni successive alla sua, ma già completamente affermati ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen Group: Affirmation
by Karl Ackermann
For almost half a century, Arild Andersen has been a pillar of Manfred Eicher's ECM label. His ECM albums have traversed dissimilar territory, from the brooding Shimri (1976), the folk-influenced Sagn (1990), to the orchestral grandeur of Live at Belleville (2008). At seventy-seven, the Norwegian bassist offers the almost entirely improvised Affirmation. Andersen is joined by tenor saxophonist Marius Neset, pianist Helge Lien, and drummer Håkon Mjåset Johansen. Andersen recorded with Lien on The Rose Window (Deutsche Media Productions, 2016) ...
Continue ReadingArild Andersen Quartet: Affirmation
by Dan McClenaghan
Arild Andersen began his association with ECM Records in 1975, with the release of his album Clouds In My Head. He has released over 20 more recordings in a leadership role for the label, and has participated in even more albums--for ECM and other labels--in a sideman role, joining artists as diverse as pianists Bobo Stenson, Ketil Bjornstad and Yelena Eckemoff, saxophonists Jan Garbarek and Tommy Smith. trombonist Roswell Rudd and singer Sheila Jordan. He has proved himself a prolific ...
Continue ReadingI.P.A.: Bashing Mushrooms
by Troy Dostert
Comprised of an impressive roster of Scandinavian all-stars, I.P.A. might only need a better name if the group is to break through to wider notice. Harnessing its commitment to post-bop freedom to thoughtful tunecraft, the band's music is both accessible and tough-edged, cerebral and hard-grooving in equal measure. The quintet's first Cuneiform release, I Just Did Say Something was a highlight of 2016, and its follow-up on the venerable label, Bashing Mushrooms, is another winner, albeit with somewhat more muted ...
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