Jazz Articles about Mikkel Ploug

Mikkel Ploug / Sissel Vera Pettersen / Joachim Badenhorst: Equilibrium

by Wilbur MacKenzie
November 16, 2009

Equilibrium is three-way partnership between Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug, Belgian saxophonist and clarinetist Joachim Badenhorst and Norwegian vocalist and saxophonist Sissel Vera Pettersen. The trio's charming and ruminative mixture borrows elements of contemporary chamber music, jazz and various indigenous vocal traditions ranging from Inuit throat singing to West African griots and incorporates a variety of extended instrumental techniques and electronic processing. The trio revels in the sonorities it produces and each texture that arises exists in its ...

Mikkel Ploug - Sissel Vera Pettersen - Joachim Badenhorst: Equilibrium

by AAJ Italy Staff
September 30, 2009

Eterei ma mai algidi, arditi nel creare ambientazioni sospese e melodie intricate, ma sempre a debita distanza da ogni rischio di manierismo. Mikkel Ploug, Sissel Vera Pettersen e Joachim Badenhorst hanno dato vita a un album invernale e trasparente, un esperimento sonoro che, con quel titolo così esplicito, Equilibrium, pare occhieggiare alla natura dell'infinito. L'equilibrio in cui si mantengono voci, clarinetti, sassofoni e chitarre è infatti tanto il punto di partenza dell'ultimo progetto del trio composto dal chitarrista danese Ploug, ...

Mikkel Ploug Group: Harmoniehof

by Mark F. Turner
July 19, 2009

Danish guitarist Mikkel Ploug, a rising player in the vein of such contemporaries as Kurt Rosenwinkel and Torben Waldorff, articulates his own vocabulary--one that contains folk, rock, and modern jazz sensibilities. Harmoniehof, the follow-up to Ploug's eponymous 2006 debut on Fresh Sound New Talent featuring saxophonist Mark Turner, further illuminates his tightly knit band. Turner's ubiquitous voice (constant session work, and a member of the critically acclaimed collaborative group Fly), has been an integral part of Ploug's ...

Mikkel Ploug / Sissel Vera Petterson / Joachim Badenhorst: Equilibrium

by Jerry D'Souza
May 22, 2009

Mikkel Ploug (electric and acoustic guitars), Sissel Vera Pettersen, (voice, soprano saxophone, live electronics) and Joachim Badenhorst (clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone) create a stunning ambience in the crystalline use of their instruments on Equilibrium. The motifs are often gentle, breathing in the air of classical music or in the pastoral turns of chamber music. This in itself would be attractive enough, but Pettersen ups the ante with her voice. Hers is an instrument that can shape sound and syllable, ...

Mikkel Ploug, Sissel Vera Pettersen and Joachim Badenhorst: Equilibrium

by Matt Marshall
April 12, 2009

Controlled breathing is a centering, grounding device at the heart of many cultural and spiritual traditions. It is appropriate then that it should be the primary force and focus of Mikkel Ploug, Sissel Vera Pettersen and Joachim Badenhorst's Equilibrium. Human breath not only fuels Pettersen and Badenhorst's wind instruments, but is fully present in the resulting sound, the instruments used as much to project the breath as to transform it into musical tones. Pettersen's ethereal, often piercing ...

Mikkel Ploug Group: Mikkel Ploug Group

by Jerry D'Souza
June 22, 2007

Mikkel Ploug has been slowly, but surely, building a reputation for himself, and deservedly so. His live performances speak for themselves. This recording opens the door to his skills as a composer even while showcasing his considerable talent as a guitarist.

Ploug's writing has depth. His ear for melody is astute and he brings in different styles to lure the listener. As a guitarist, he paints a deep sonic canvas. His notes are robust and rounded, fleet in their dispensation ...

Mikkel Ploug: Mikkel Ploug Group

by Budd Kopman
May 22, 2007

Jordi Pujol keeps finding talented newcomers and gives them a chance to record. Guitarist Mikkel Ploug (Peterson) is truly deserving of such an opportunity since he has an original voice with something to say. The trailer to the title Mikkel Ploug Group is Featuring Mark Turner and the album is very much an intertwining of forces by Ploug and tenor saxophonist Turner. Rounding out the band are bassist Jeppe Skovbakke and drummer Sean Carpio who as the ...