Science Fair: Sugar in the Morning

Listening to Anna Ueland amounts to turning a question mark into an exclamation mark. Heard at the Trondheim Jazzfestival in 2026, when elected Ambassador of the University of Trondheim, she presented her string-dominated group Populærmusikk for likesinnede (Popular music for like-minded people), joyful experimental jazz-pop with first-rate soloists. She had just released Music For A Noisy Environment (Sonic Transmissions Records, 2026) with her group Babies On Airplanes, a sort of ad hoc soundtrack for the listener's imagination. Here she is with her quintet Science Fair, awaiting the next group.

Ueland, a physicist turned to the dark side, is a keyboardist and vocalist. The quintet features some of the most prominent musicians on today's Norwegian scene: Guro Kvåle (trombone), Åsne Fossmark (tenor saxophone), Kertu Aer (bass), Gustav Tornberg (drums), and, on two tracks, Tor Haugerud (percussion).

Here Ueland sets aside electricity and (almost) vocals to concentrate on the piano. The quintet's instrumentation is therefore thoroughly jazz-oriented, and upon listening, indeed, we are right in the realm of jazz. Disconcerting given her other projects, hence the question mark: a return to her roots, for example, a statement perhaps? No, this album simply illuminates the essence of Ueland's music: melodic talent in the compositions (the holy grail), pictorial imagination, and a childlike (or festive, as in some Abdullah Ibrahim compositions: "Sugar in the Morning") joy distorts jazz, palpable on the album, asserted in the liner notes, and radiant in concert.

The album opens with "Plantasia," that popular piece by Mort Garson, which Ueland cites as a major source of inspiration and which sheds instructive light on her melodic approach. She reinterprets it on a slightly out-of-tune piano, lending a nostalgic flavour to a rendition one may prefer over the original, a choice justified by Kvåle and Fossmark's contributions.

Ueland also cites 1960s free jazz, contemporary Scandinavian jazz, and classical Impressionism. One is happy to believe her, but these influences dissolve into their synthesis. It is true that "Kidz Zone" is reminiscent of McCoy Tyner in the '60s, that "KWYJIBO" has a pronounced free-jazz inflection, and that "As Guilty As Charged" appears impressionistic. As for contemporary Scandinavian jazz, it is so diverse that just about every piece on the album could join the ranks. The stomping "There's Always a Bigger Fish," in nine, would, by contrast, be almost expressionistic.

All in all, everything is in everything and vice versa, and what emerges is a genuine musical imagination, which is rare and precious. Ueland's magical and playful universe, in a different guise from that of Babies On Airplanes: this is where the exclamation mark lies!