Christina Sandsengen is an educated classical concert guitarist, and has performed in concert halls around the world. Solace is her debut album as a composer and the album highlights her technical skills as well as a wide range of contrasts, emotions and feelings. Sometimes dark and dramatic, then suddenly brighter and melodic. Christina says: “The classical guitar is the key to my unconscious world of emotions and thoughts, and so I put the classical guitar in the center and use different soundscapes and elements to highlight or enhance the colors and the expressions from the guitar, and I use a lot of imitation of church bells played on the guitar to capture the empty and painful feeling of a funeral.” The album consists of 13 tracks and invites the listener on a personal musical journey from dark and light, grief, passion, and pain. The melodic language of the music are similar to Norwegian folk music. Fredrik Falk has produced the album and also contributes with piano and soundscapes. Recorded by Ole Teigen in Crowtown recordings and mastered by Kenneth Amundsen. Artwork by Nihil.

Inner View is the follow up to the exciting Outer View by Anders Lonne Gronseth and Multiverse. Their music is in many ways theoretical, but the immense quality of the musicians and their excellent flow makes this a unique listening experience.

Organ and tuba - not the most common ensemble - but a very exciting soundscape with unexplored sound possibilities. Organist Magnus Moksnes Myhre and jazz tuba player Daniel Herskedal met for the first time as students at the music conservatory in Trondheim, and the duo have now created a completely new vibe with their Desert Lighthouse. The sources of inspiration are many, and they meet in their common fascination with the oriental tonal language. Coverart by Bendik Kaltenborn.

Memorabilia was written in 2016 by jazz bassist and composer Mats Eilertsen and premiered at JazzFest in Trondheim the same year. The work is written for two trios: Mats Eilertsen Trio (Harmeen Franje, piano; Thomas Stronen, drums; and Mats Eilertsen, bass), and the vocal ensemble Trio Mediaeval (the acclaimed vocal trio of the three sopranos Anna Maria Friman, Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Berit Opheim.) Recently recorded in Newtone studio in Oslo, the album is now available, and has been released alongside a concert in the Norwegian Opera House. The music unites the two trios in a sacred, lyrical expression, giving the piano trio room to improvise. The lyrics are a mixture of traditional masses and poems by the Norwegian lyricist Tor Ulven. Darkness and drama meet nicer views of life. About faith, doubt, and time. “Minutes, maybe hours, of your own existence. That you forgot, but I still remember. You live a secret life in someone else’s memory.” (Tor Ulven)

Marius Klovning is already an experienced guitarist, and is often seen on stage at jazz clubs around Norway with one of his many bands. Late Nights, Early Mornings is his second solo album with the guitar in focus, recorded during corona times with producer and technician Hans Martin Austestad. The album is a collection of personal, melodic gems mainly performed on various guitars. You will first and foremost hear Klovning's exquisite melodic taste and his love for folk tunes, blues and the singer/songwriter tradition. The songs vary from cheerful, fast melodies to longer, atmospheric and dreamy sequences. Late Nights, Early Mornings is a beautiful and well-played album that explores a number of genres and moods with the guitar as a guide.

Members of the group Mr. Mibbler, have come up with a kind of music that digs for gold in bits and pieces of musical driftwood, elusive thoughts and ideas, and immediate reactions to each other’s ideas.

Time and Mass challenges our perception of how a guitar sounds. It pulls you in its abstract way through intense emotions in a roller coaster of an album. (NXN Recordings)

Thomas Torstrup is a jazz pianist and organist from Stavanger. In 2014, he debuted with the poetic album "Snøkorn", together with Hanna Paulsberg (sax), Trygve Fiske and Tore Sandbakken . He has also worked on exciting, cross-genre organ projects with John Pål Inderberg, Martin Högberg and Heidi Skjerve, resulting in the albums "Still" (2017) and "Selbu Sessions" (2018). In recent years, Torstrup has composed new material for jazz quartet. The songs on Two Brothers were recorded in New Tone Studio in Oslo in August 2019. The music can be characterized as melodic jazz with an original touch and a wide palette of stylistic references. The sources of inspiration range from American jazz tradition to sacred music and Olivier Messiaen's universe. Thomas also find inspiration from sounds in nature as raindrops and wind, and the sound of children trying instruments for the first time!

REVIEW:

Two Brothers reflects pianist and organist Thomas Torstrup’s idea that inspiration can come from any avenue in life. The first track, Transcribed Raindrops, was written in a church in the Norwegian mountains; the music slowly coalesces into a superb piano solo by Torstrup himself.

As simple an act as mountain hiking can inspire Torstrup; the bass solos here from Andersen are magnificent, while Torstrup’s rhythmic shiftings in his solos are captivating. Inspired by solar winds at the end of a short summer.

How fascinating it is to hear the influence of Olivier Messiaen in Modes; and also to hear how those characteristic sounds can morph into something truly of jazz (and lead, in turn, to a fabulous bass break). 

Another inspiration for Torstrup was Jimmy Giuffre’s 1947 jazz standard Four Brothers. Immediately Torstrup’s proclivity for deconstruction is evident: Two lines, one trumpet, one single-line piano, provide a skeletal basis that leads to a simple but effective piano solo. It’s interesting how Woody Herman and Giuffre’s own takes are so different, and Torstrup’s piece creates yet another soundscape.

The recording is superb. There is plenty of presence, and the instruments are nicely placed in the sound perspective. This is a superb disc, its music delivered by four massive jazz talents from Norway.

-- Fanfare (Colin Clarke)

Tomorrow’s finally here is the second long play album from energetic jazz band Bangkok Lingo. This Quintet is filled to the brim with both high-octane rhythm and intense solos as well as laidback grooves and delightful melodies, and they have established themselves as a sought after act on the Norwegian live scene. The five young musicians hail from Oslo and are inspired by exotic music from other parts of the world. Their music mixes swing, free jazz and catchy melodies in a raw and unfiltered landscape. Tomorrow’s finally here is inspired by both legendary 60’s jazz, swing and world music, all performed with excellence and joy.

REVIEWS:

These guys aren't from Bangkok, they're from Norway, but you would never have expected that when you hear the music from their second long player "Tomorrow's Finally Here". Trumpet and saxophone as well as a rhythm section of bass, drums and percussion create a sound that is transparent despite its density, whose melodic variety seems to come directly from South Africa and is sometimes reminiscent of Chris McGregor's Brotherhood Of Breath or Abdullah Ibrahim's masterpiece "African Marketplace". The two horns play lively melodies, but they are also up to all the tricks of free jazz and Olav Imerslund's heavily syncopated bass ensures a constantly grooving drive.

-- Jazz Thing

Five years after releasing his second solo album, Acres of Blue, Espen Berg decided to do a fully improvised piano concert and a live recording. This one-taker is a culmination of years of development, reflection and research. The music created in the moment reflects his emotions in a profound way, and every time he play it’s different. Every second of music is unique, and it feels like an endless resource both musically and spiritually. The Trondheim Concert is recorded at Dokkhuset.

REVIEWS:

Having had the pleasure in recent years of reviewing a couple of Norwegian pianist Espen Berg’s trio albums, I was intrigued when this new release, “The Trondheim Concert” landed in my inbox. Five years after releasing his second solo album, “Acres of Blue” Espen Berg decided to present a fully improvised piano concert in a live setting. This album is the recording from the one-off concert. As I started listening to Part 1- the album being split into 10 parts – my intrigue soon turned to surprise, and then to awe. This is so good, brilliant actually. The music I’m listening to for the first time is stunning. As the album progresses, I am astonished at how beautiful this is, on every level. After several listens through, my considered appraisal would be this; What we have here, is quite possibly one of the finest improvised solo piano performances I have had the pleasure of listening to in the last decade or so.

Espen Berg, for those who are new to his music, is a Norwegian pianist and composer. He lives in Trondheim, and in 2011 started working on his first solo project “Noctilucent” which was released in 2012 and became the starting point for his career as a band leader. My own experience of his music, up to this point in time, comes from listening to his excellent trio releases. Espen Berg Trio was formed in 2014 with fellow band members Bárður Reinert Poulsen (bass) and Simon Olderskog Albertsen (drums). The trio is now considered one of the most innovative and highly recognised piano trios from Norway. And rightly so, I might add. As a sideman Berg has worked with Hildegunn Øiseth Quartet, A Tonic for the Troops, Seamus Blake (Bridges), Daniel Herskedal, Anders Grønseth (Multiverse), Mathias Eick Quintet, and Marius Neset and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, as well as with duo partner Silje Nergaard.

As I listen to this wonderful concert, it’s clear in my own mind that I’m not going to get through this review without mentioning the obvious name that will spring immediately to mind; Keith Jarrett. The words “solo piano improvised concert” are synonymous with the legend’s name. Yes there are others, of course, but over the last six decades (almost), Jarrett has invented and reinvented this genre of music time and time again. And there are similarities in “The Trondheim Concert” to Jarrett’s work, stylistically and emotively. There’s an intense luminescence to Berg’s performance here that reminds me of Jarrett in his prime and pomp. Throughout the wholly engaging ten parts, there are many changes of mood, pace and style. But there’s one thing that holds it all together; a charismatic feel that is all of Berg’s making. Melodies shift seamlessly from light to dark, sublime motifs repeat and take delightfully unexpected twists and turns, tender, reflective passages give way to unabridged excitement, all wrapped up in a warm blanket of gorgeous lyricism. And as much as I use Keith Jarrett’s name as reference, it’s important to highlight the fact that it’s Espen Berg’s personality that shines through with remarkable clarity on this fabulous recording.

With the undoubted depth, sincerity and individuality of this recording comes a large amount of charm. There’s a mystique about it, with Berg casting a magical spell on his listeners from the very first note to the last. I’m totally captivated, lost in my own little world as I let the pianist’s notes entrance and engulf me. It’s a fabulous, joyous journey, and one I wholeheartedly recommend.

-- UK Vibe

Andreas Ihlebæk follows up his two solo piano albums with a musical fairytale, adding voices and careful instrumentation to his beloved, melodic pieces. His new album Nowhere Everything contains 12 brand new pieces written for piano, voices and strings with a touch of electronic ambience when suited. Pianist and composer Andreas Ihlebæk was born in Oslo, Norway, and grew up in Hamburg, Germany and San Francisco, California. His unique blend of soul and Norwegian folk music is the sound that have shaped him over the years. Andreas Ihlebæk is the rising star in modern classical and an innovator in jazz, soul and in folk music.

'Sunday Songs' is the newest vocal album from Jonas Sjøvaag and features a series of songs based on lyrics written in Florence. Under a scorching sun, on a rooftop in the eastern part of town, they came to be in the spring of 2019. The compositions were then written during the autumn, and the album is Sjøvaag's 13th release under his own name. 'Sunday Songs' was inspired by some of the great performers of piano-driven pop, Billy Joel, Randy Newman and Randy Goodrum comes to mind, but it was also shaped by Sjøvaag's background as a jazz musician. Andreas Ulvo plays piano throughout, and the album features guest performances from notable artists Hilde Marie Kjersem (vocals), André Roligheten (sax), Sarah-Jane Summers (fiddle), Mathias Eick (trumpet) and Sigurd Hole (double bass). 'Sunday Songs' is a melodic, heartfelt and beautiful album, with a timeless nerve and lyrics with a melancholy tinge.

We all know artists these days have a varied repertoire. Still, Harr & Hartberg took the music industry in Norway by surprise when they released their first jazz album. Their music feature a triple treat; Sublime lyrics by the famous Norwegian author Lars Saabye Christensen delivered with a Chet-Baker-esque voice by one of Norway's international acclaimed actors, teamed up with a hot double bass and outstanding compositions by the versatile musician Aslak Hartberg. This is seriousness served softly and their catchy tunes will sneak into your soul. Producer, the Grammy-nominated R&B artist Jarle Bernhoft and engineer, sound-magician Bjarne Stensli have succeeded in keeping the soulful sound of Harr & Hartberg, while approaching a more modern sound throughout the whole album. Some of the best jazz musicians in Scandinavia guarantees a thrilling musical experience with their new album ‘Scar.’

The title for Andreas third solo album came a couple of months before the pandemic. Andreas Ihlebæk who was born in Oslo, but grew up in Hamburg and San Francisco, and who made his living as a writer/journalist travelling around the US, Asia, Spain and the Caribbean while composing his comeback The Guest, has seen himself as a global citizen since childhood. The albums title grew out of his steadily growing concern for the world around him, and for where were all headed. As the pandemic hit, the title suddenly became all the more relevant, with the urgent need for safety while chaos rages outside. However, this music is not about the physical dimension, for those lucky enough to be able to provide themselves with walls. It is about building a good place for listeners to exist and/or escape to, wherever they may be.

Leave your thoughts here is Mr Mibbler's third album following The Long Journey released in January 2021. Mr Mibbler is musicians and producers Thom Hell, Jørn Raknes and Vidar Ersfjord, and this time they have invited an incredible number of first-class Norwegian musicians to play around in their musical world. The guest musicians have been the starting point for the tracks and Mr Mibbler has built the songs around their contributions. Among the guest artists we find very exciting names such as Knut Reiersrud, Lindstrøm, Andreas Ulvo, Mathias Eick, Jan Bang, Bjørn Klakegg, Jørgen Munkeby, Sigmund Groven and Nils Petter Molvær, all experienced and acclaimed within their genres in Norway and internationally. This makes Leave your thoughts here a musical journey of different moods, exciting instrumentation and a wonderful mix of genres. You will hear folk, jazz, ambient and electronica performed by the very best musicians in Norway.

REVIEW:

The trio who call themselves Mr Mibbler have careers in producing and playing music. So, I guess, it is a matter of rifling through their contact books to call up to the great and good of the Norwegian jazz community.

Several of the artists will be familiar to anyone with a passing interest in the ways in which the Norwegian jazz scene has been forging its own identity over the past decade. Molvær’s fusion of jazz and electronic music predates the work of Mr. Mibbler but, on track 1, he also seems to be inspired by their vision of his original vision. Garbarek’s mix of jazz with trip-hop also feeds directly to the musical directions of Mr. Mibbler, and their collaboration, track 5, provides one of several show-stopping moments from the collection. Eick’s individual trumpet sounds, where a brass instrument is made to sound like a wooden flute from the Orient, sits comfortably across the vibrant soundscapes that Mr. Mibbler create for him.

Rather than list each artist (at the risk of offending those not mentioned here), I would much rather simply insist that anyone reading this gets a copy of what is clearly a major recording event and one of the key albums of 2021.

-- Jazz Views (Chris Faber)