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Huntsville + Yuka Honda, Nels Cline, Darin Gray, Glenn Kotche.: Bow Shoulder
by John Eyles
Bow Shoulder is the first Huntsville release since Pond back in March 2016. Surprisingly, it was recorded in Chicago in June 2010 and not mixed until January 2019 and April 2020. Just as surprising—maybe less so, given the album's personnel credits—is that the Chicago recording took place at the Loft, the studio and rehearsal space of the rock combo Wilco. The group's guitarist Nels Cline and drummer Glenn Kotche had previously recorded live with Huntsville at the 2007 Kongsberg jazz ...
read moreJo Berger Myhre & Ólafur Björn Ólafsson: Lanzarote
by Gareth Thompson
A testament to water and fire, Lanzarote is the fourth largest island in the Canary archipelago. In the 1960s, tourism was encouraged there at all costs, elements of which survive in Brit-pubs and karaoke bars on the waterfront at Puerto del Carmen. But the island's moon-like terrain has more recently lured visitors seeking yoga and yurts, hammocks and health foods. They say it makes a great place to reflect on the world's natural wonders. Norwegian bassist/pianist Jo Berger ...
read moreMats Eilertsen: Reveries and Revelations
by John Eyles
In rock music, the heyday of “and friends" albums (Leon Russell or Eric Clapton releases for examples) seems long past; on such records, the headliner was joined by a famous star names on different tracks, their presence helping to attract publicity and boost sales. The last hooray of the genre probably came with charity recordings such as Band Aid's “Do They Know It's Christmas," “We Are the World" and their ilk. However, away from rock music, Reveries and Revelations suggests ...
read moreSkydive Trio: Sun Sparkle
by Karl Ackermann
Norwegian guitarist Thomas Dahl's primary project is the Skydive Trio with bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Olavi Louhivuouri. The trio is an off-shoot of a quintet of the same name that includes tenor saxophonist Tore Brunborg and pianist Alexi Tuomarila. Sun Sparkle is the second release from the smaller group whose sound, like the album title, reflects ideas from both familiar and eclectic musical worlds. Dahl has collected a number of honors in his native land, including Norway's ...
read moreMoskus: Mirakler
by Gareth Thompson
Not every picture paints a thousand words, but some are more symbolic than others. Take the cover of Moskus's new album, which depicts a hip young hiker facing a two-horned beast in the wilderness. But is the animal real, a mere figment, or even an applied image? And what of that rock pile between them, painted a rather lurid yellow? This fourth album from the Norwegian trio also poses many questions. The first being, what the heck are ...
read moreHilde Marie Holsen: Lazuli
by John Eyles
In May 2015, Norwegian trumpeter and soundscaper Hilde Marie Holsen released her debut recording, Ask, on the Hubro label, to glowing reviews, including an All About Jazz piece that described her as “a natural heir of masters such as Nils Petter Molvaer and Arve Henriksen." While that may seem quite a weight to put on the shoulders of a young player with only one album release to her name, Holsen's music on Ask fully justified it. And three years on ...
read moreSkydive Trio: Sun Sparkle
by Gareth Thompson
There are parts of Norway where the sun hardly sets for months on end. It stays bright all night and dawn is never dark. The essence of this strange polar light finds its way into Sun Sparkle, the second album from Norwegian act Skydive Trio. Its predecessor, Sun Moee, also referenced our great burning star, which can hardly be coincidence. There is something both mythic and solar about this trio's music. Fittingly it also comes over as equally retro and ...
read moreKim Myhr: You / Me
by John Eyles
Although Norwegian guitarist and composer Kim Myhr has been closely associated with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra for several years, his solo albums have steadily been gaining ground since his first solo release All Your Limbs Singing (Sofa, 2014). You / Me is his third solo album, his second on Hubro, following 2016's Bloom. Where Myhr was the only musician credited on both of those previous solo albums, on You / Me he shares the credits with three renowned percussionists--Tony Buck of ...
read moreErlend Apneseth: Ara
by Don Phipps
With the album Ara, Norwegian Hardanger fiddler Erlend Apneseth and his trio (drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde and guitarist Stephan Meidell) signal a folk music retelling of ancient stories that bring to mind Viking landscapes of ice and snow. Winter is coming -yet the music suggests this winter provides deep and breathtaking introspection amid icy drifts, snow-capped mountains, and the surf of a wind-chilled frozen ocean shore. Take the opening track, “Utferd," a composition that conveys an early morning eeriness, ...
read more1982: Chromola
by John Eyles
Remarkably, given that Chromola is only 1982's fifth album release, it also marks the tenth anniversary of the trio's formation. In 2007, drummer Øyvind Skarbø asked fiddler Nils Økland if the two could form a duo to play a concert series Skarbø ran. Økland agreed if they could be joined by keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland a collaborator of Økland's for over twenty years. The trio's debut performance was on Valentine's Day 2007. The rest is history... Despite the sparsity ...
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