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Jazz Articles about Ole Morten Vågan
Mathias Eick: Lullaby
by Jack Kenny
The prolific collaboration between Mathias Eick and ECM founder Manfred Eicher reveals a shared artistic vision that has reshaped contemporary jazz aesthetics. Eick's appearances on over a dozen ECM releases demonstrate Eicher's commitment to cultivating his distinctive sound--a muted, introspective trumpet approach that redefines jazz expression through restraint rather than virtuosic display. Mathias Eick's sound seeps into the consciousness. It does not ring out with a magnificent blare, the notes do not zing or soar. His trumpet sounds, ...
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 ReadingFredrik Ljungkvist - Kris Davis - Ole Morten Vågan - Øyvind Skarbø: Inland Empire
by Glenn Astarita
Rising star American pianist Kris Davis aligns with A-list Scandinavian progressive jazz artists for a semi-structured program that, among numerous positives, highlights the ensemble's persuasive interactions amid a capacious soundstage, spanning sublime progressions, angular unison choruses and geometrical paradigm shifts. But the musicians unrelenting creativity and thoughtful improvisations spark a winning formula not always easily attainable in these unions, where spontaneous breakouts and plot redevelopments yield significant rewards. “Truffle Pigs and Katmandu Stray Dogs" is a prime ...
Continue ReadingJulio Resende Trio: You Taste Like a Song
by AAJ Italy Staff
Trio da tener d'occhio quello del portoghese Julio Resende. Innanzitutto perché suona in maniera pazzesca e come un unico organismo pensante. I ruoli sono continuamente invertiti non come semplice divertissement ma come stimolante provocazione e sollecitazione delle dinamiche interne. Il contrabbasso del formidabile Ole Morten Vagan funge spesso da traino melodico contrappuntandosi alle creazioni istantanee del pianista; in fase di sostegno ritmico gira alla larga da pattern accomodanti preferendo pulsazioni anomale e imprevedibili. La batteria di Joel Silva è poliedrica ...
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