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Trond Frønes
Soft Ffog: Focus
by Glenn Astarita
Soft Ffog, a Norwegian jazz-prog quartet from Bergen, emerged with their self-titled debut in 2023. Led by guitarist Tom Hasslan, the band features keyboardist Vegard Lien Bjerkan, drummer Axel Skalstad and bassist Trond Frønes. With nods to 1970s giants like Camel, Focus Soft Machine and Mahavishnu Orchestra, they blend intricate prog rock with improvisational jazz, evoking a retro spirit that feels fresh rather than dated. Their 2025 sophomore album Focus sharpens this vision across four sprawling tracks, marking ...
Continue Reading...Soft Ffog: Soft Ffog
by Glenn Astarita
Guitarist Tom Hasslan (Krokofant) drummer, Axel Skalstad (Krokofant) bassist, Trond Frønes (Red Kite, Grand General) and keyboardist Vegard Lien Bjerkan (WIZRD) debut on this new sub-label (It It Jazz?) by the venerable Nordic prog rock label Karisma. The musicians formed this unit back in 2016 but for various reasons took some time getting it together. Respectively, they have resided within the heart of Scandinavian progressive jazz, jazz rock and offshoot genres, also performing with the noteworthy ensembles noted above. Coinciding ...
Continue Reading...Red Kite: Apophenian Bliss
by Doug Collette
Even more so than on Red Kite's wholly excellent eponymous debut, the follow-up release, Apophenian Bliss, by this Norwegian quartet illustrates how fine are the lines between metal, prog and fusion music. The powerful dynamism this band commands generates thoughts of a more free-form version of the electric Return To Forever quartets, electric music for the mind and body that would be ideal as a soundtrack to an epic piece of sci-fi, while the disc's cover art (by Per Spjotvold) ...
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