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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 ReadingMotif: My Head Is Listening
by John Sharpe
Formed in 1998, Norwegian sextet Motif celebrates its sixth release with My Head Is Listening and its second on Clean Feed following Art Transplant (2011). Bassist Ole Morten Vågan, who co-founded the outfit with reedman Atle Nymo, is once again responsible for all seven compositions. As well as Motif, he boasts some heavyweight credits with Joshua Redman, Chick Corea and Kris Davis, and testament to his organizational skills, has also been appointed Artistic Director of the renowned Trondheim Jazz Orchestra ...
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Frozen Silence
From: Frozen SilenceBy Ole Morten Vågan
Ole Morten Vågan
Instrument: Bass, acoustic
