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Oyvind Skarbo
Hilmar Jensson: Transparence
by Mike Jurkovic
Given that not one of the eight tracks definingTransparence, the darkly compelling debut from Norway's Hitra, runs longer than six minutes, the quartet covers a lot of ground. Like a ticket out of isolation, Transparence transports your homebound head to the grey expanse of Northern Atlantic skies. Billowing by design, their clouds of music make you feel like you're floating above rain shadows and fjords. Bonding together at Oslo's Norwegian Academy of Music, Hitra pairs Italian pianist Alessandro ...
Continue Reading...Hitra: Transparence
by Emmanuel Di Tommaso
Immaginiamo un'isola chiamata Hitra, circondata da infinite altre isole e scogliere, e percossa dai gelidi venti del Mar di Norvegia, che si insinuano fra le barche e nelle case dei pescatori, tagliano i volti dei pochi vecchi abitanti del luogo, fino a infrangersi contro i monumentali fiordi secolari. “Isola," dal latino “terra insula," a sua volta composto dalla particella “in" ("dentro," “in") e dal termine “salum" ("alto mare"), quindi letteralmente “terra in mezzo al mare," da cui “isolamento," la condizione ...
Continue Reading...Fredrik 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 Reading...1982 + BJ Cole: 1982 + BJ Cole
by John Kelman
With musical cross-pollination the norm, it's not just about pan-cultural blending; it's just as much about finding ways to blend the contemporary and the antiquated. Since inception, 1982 has combined instruments from across the centuries--harmonium, hardanger fiddle and drum set--wonderfully blending Norwegian traditionalism, millennium-spanning classicism and modernistic free improvisation on its self-titled, 2010 NORCD debut. If Pintera (Hubro, 2011) demonstrated further growth and consolidation of 1982's chemistry, 1982 + BJ Cole further broadens the trio's purview by inviting pedal steel ...
Continue Reading...1982 + BJ Cole: 1982 + BJ Cole
by John Eyles
For its third album, following 1982 (NORCD, 2009) and Pintura (Hubro, 2011), the trio now known as 1982 decided, after much discussion, to invite a guest musician to join the recording. A few years earlier, the group had met pedal steel guitarist B.J. Cole at a BBC radio program, and so decided to enlist him, even though the four had not played together previously. As drummer Øyvind Skarbø comments, “We thought this was a good and, not least, unusual choice." ...
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