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Gard Nilssen: Drumming Music
by Eyal Hareuveni
Norwegian drummer Gard Nilssen is one of the most-in- demand and versatile musicians in the vibrant Nordic scene. The musical range of his own bands--Bushman's Revenge, sPacemonKEy, Astro Sonic, Cortex, Lord Kelvin, PUMA, saxophonist Eirik Hegdal's Team Hegdal and bassist Per Zanussi's quintet--encompasses free improvisation, modern and free jazz, techno, electronica, metal, noise and experimental ambient sounds. But his musical universe is even wider, as his debut solo album reveals. Drumming Music's title corresponds with the ...
read moreMonkey Plot: Lov og lette vimpler
by Eyal Hareuveni
The title of this debut album from young Norwegian trio Monkey Plot, Løv og lette vimpler ("leaves and light streamers" in Norwegian) suggests a glimpse into its impressive range. The musical vocabulary of these musicians--acoustic guitarist Christian Skår Winther, double bassist Magnus Skavhaug Nergaard (both members of the noisy, in-your-face punk-jazz trio Ich Bin N!ntendo) and drummer Jan Martin Gismervik (himself a member of the experimental duo PGA)--refuses to be defined by genres. It is associated with assorted inspirations such ...
read morePetter O Hanna: Rendition of a Whisper
by Eyal Hareuveni
One of the best releases of improvised music of 2012 was by Norwegian duo of innovative vocal artist Sidsel Endresen and guitarist Stian Westerhus, Didymoi Dreams (Rune Grammofon). Now another Norwegian duo of like-minded, genre-blind guitarist Petter Vågan and vocalist Hanna Gjermundrød present their own personal variation on one of the common formats in popular music. This duo released their debut more than four years ago, This is a Step (FMR, 2008). In the following years both ...
read moreCortex: Göteborg
by Eyal Hareuveni
Norway's Cortex released its highly promising debut, Resection (Bolage), in 2011. The members of this high-octane quartet met during jazz studies in Trondheim, and began working as a band in 2007. Cortex follows the free jazz legacy of Ornette Coleman quartet with trumpeter Don Cherry, spicing it with wise, original compositions and uncompromising performances inspired by fellow powerful Scandinavian outfits such as Atomic, The Core and The Thing. Cortex's sophomore recording, Göteborg--named after the Swedish city where ...
read moreErik Johannessen: Inkblots
by Eyal Hareuveni
Norwegian trombonist Erik Johannessen is a very busy musician: he is a member of the left-of-center Norwegian jazz outfits Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Jaga Jazzist, Lord Kelvin and Magic Pocket, and contributes to recordings by artful songwriters such as Susanne Sundfør and Synne Sanden, so it is no surprise that he has only now released his first solo album. Luckily, Johannessen justifies the waiting by a beautiful set of short compositions which accommodate the rich vocabulary of his ...
read moreBol / Westerhus / Snah: Numb, number
by Eyal Hareuveni
Norwegian trio Bol has always been a melting pot of untimely sound worlds, poetic texts and fearless, improvising character. Vocalist Tone Åse experiments with live electronics and subtle interpretations of poems, as she did on her recent collaboration with drummer Thomas Strønen, Voxpheria (Gigafon, 2012). Keyboardist Ståle Storløkken evokes progressive rock symphonies with his usage of vintage synthesizers, while drummer Tor Haugerud explores original grooves. On this recording, four years after Skylab (NORCD, 2008), Bol is joined ...
read moreTone Ase / Thomas Stronen: Voxpheria
by Eyal Hareuveni
The covers of Norwegian label Gigafon, designed by bassist Rune Nergaard, send an unsettling message. The cover of Voxpheria is no different, with its alien scenery and what looks like a homage to Norwegian thriller writer Jo Nesbø's invented torture instrument, Leopold's apple, taken from his The Leopard (Harvill Secker, 2011). And indeed, the highly personal, poetic soundscapes of vocal artist Tone Åse-- known for her trio Bol and the experimental all-female vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices--and prolific ...
read moreMonsters and Puppets: Monsters and Puppets
by Eyal Hareuveni
Monsters and Puppets features two prolific and versatile musicians in the Norwegian jazz scene-- keyboardist Maria Kannegaard and drummer Thomas Strønen, both of whom have been playing together since 1997 in the Kannegaard Trio, with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and, recently, in vocalist Ingrid Lode's outfit Billy Fy. This new duo was formed after the two musicians were asked to play a duo set at Molde Jazz Festival. A few days later this completely freely improvised session was recorded.
read moreMarvel Machine: Volt / Revolt
by Eyal Hareuveni
Volt / Revolt brings together three highly gifted Norwegian jazz musicians who wanted to try something completely different. All the music is spontaneously improvised, but its ingredients owe more to raw metal, punk, noise and electronic experimental sounds than to the rich jazz legacy. This is by no means an attempt to create cerebral, forward-thinking music, but to enjoy exploring the sonic options of such free form formats. The trio even declares that “no intellectuals were harmed during the recording ...
read moreLord Kelvin: Radio Has No Future
by Eyal Hareuveni
William Thomson, better known as Lord Kelvin (1824-1907), was a Scottish physicist, engineer and inventor who defined absolute zero--the theoretical absence of all thermal energy. The musical incarnation of Lord Kelvin comes from Norway--certainly a cold place on the globe--its three members meeting while attending the famous Trondheim Conservatory. Like its debut, (Dances in the Smoke (Jazzland, 2009), the trio's sophomore release is, however, steaming hot. All three members of the trio have busy and varied musical ...
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