Results for "Jon Christensen"

Jon Christensen

Jon Christensen over the past thirty years, the Norwegian drummer has played drums and percussion on fully fifty-five releases from the esteemed German jazz label. Jon elaborates on beats: "You could go to a jazz club Tuesday at 8:00 and play just one tap on the cymbal, then come back to the club exactly one week later and play one more cymbal hit. People would think the two events have nothing in common. But that is a beat." Well, that might not wash in Nashville, but it's certainly worked its magic for a host of ECM artists. "If I'm playing with a band in 4/4 in a medium tempo," Jon explains, "and I feel like loosening up a bit, I could go out of tempo or stop altogether"but I always know exactly where I am

Jacob Young: On ECM, founding a label and finding the "drama" in the music

By FRIEDRICH KUNZMANN

There's a lot to be said about musical excellence in versatility when it comes to guitarist Jacob Young. The Norwegian fret-acrobat came to international prominence in the early 2000s, when ECM's Manfred Eicher detected his remarkable chops and subsequently recorded and released Young's debut Evening Falls (2004) for the prestigious German label. Two more sessions followed ...

Bob Thiele's Flying Dutchman Records: Ten High Altitude Albums

By CHRIS MAY

Bob Thiele is best remembered for his years as the artistic director and house producer of Impulse!. He took over from founder producer Creed Taylor in 1961 and stayed with the label until 1969, when he left to run his own Flying Dutchman Records. Thiele's tenure at Impulse! was its most glorious period, when Thiele curated ...

R.I.P. McCoy Tyner and Jon Christensen

By MAURICE HOGUE

As social distancing becomes the norm in this new world, filling the spaces with music seems like a great idea to keep people together. Two musicians whose careers did exactly that are recognized in the last part of this week's episode: pianist McCoy Tyner and drummer Jon Christensen, both of whom passed in recent weeks. They ...

Øyvind Braekke: Wilderness

By FRIEDRICH KUNZMANN

Best known for his work with fellow countrymen Trygve Seim, Per Oddvar Johansen and Mats Eilertsen on ECM's The Source (ECM 2006), trombonist Øyvind Braekke belongs among Norway's hidden treasures as far as arrangers and composers go. On Wilderness he displays delicate oversight at arranging six voices so that each instrument conveys a unique purpose. From ...

Farnell Newton, Nuphar Fey and a tribute to Jon Christensen

By BOB OSBORNE

Two featured new albums from Farnell Newton and Nuphar Fey and a comprehensive tribute to Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen who passed away on 18th February Farnell Newton gets up on the good foot and heads off full speed ahead on his second leader album for Posi-Tone. This action packed session features the high powered ...

Yelena Eckemoff: Nocturnal Animals

By MARK SULLIVAN

Pianist-composer Yelena Eckemoff is predictably unpredictable. After an early series of piano trio albums she worked with larger ensembles, culminating in the sextet (plus vocalists) of Better Than Gold And Silver (L&H, 2018). After cutting back to a duet with drummer Manu Katché on Colors (L&H, 2019) she returns with a larger band, but with a ...

Yelena Eckemoff: Nocturnal Animals

By DAN MCCLENAGHAN

"You're busy appearing or you're busy disappearing." Drummer-bandleader Art Blakey may have said that; if he didn't, he should have. Somebody had to express the importance of presenting your work, for getting it out there to an audience. This goes for virtually any artist in any medium. Double down on that for people who create jazz. ...

Norwegian Road Trip, Part 4: Oslo and an Interview with Jan Erik Kongshaug

By JOHN KELMAN

Author's Note: Jan Erik Kongshaug, owner and recording engineer at Rainbow Studios, Oslo, passed away on November 5, 2019. Beyond his best-known work on hundreds of recordings for the lauded ECM Records label in collaboration with label head/producer Manfred Eicher, Kongshaug's studio and engineering, mixing and mastering work has garnered significant international acclaim. Still, Rainbow continues ...

Bobo Stenson Trio: War Orphans

By DAN MCCLENAGHAN

Manfred Eicher started ECM Records in 1969. Fifty years later, in 2019, with over 1500 releases to its name, the label continues to offer up compelling and unclassifiable music. And since the catalog is deep, and early-in-the-effort recordings have become harder to find, ECM periodically re-releases some of these gems, tagging them Touchstones. Early ...