The aim of "Christmas songs" recorded by duo Thom Hell (vocals) and Andreas Ulvo (piano, synth) was to create something intuitive and with familiar and beloved Christmas songs; The performance should be unpretentious, contrary to how we are used to hearing holiday songs. In order to keep the nerve and spontaneity only one take of each song was made, with some overdubs where they later felt it was needed.

Andreas Ulvo (b. 1983), pianist and keyboardist from Eidskog in Hedmark. He has a master's degree in jazz and improvisation from the Norwegian Academy of Music. He is active with several own projects Andreas Ulvo ensemble, Eple Trio, Innlandet and his own solo project, with several releases. He has also worked with bands and artists such as Ingrid Olava, Mathias Eick, Solveig Slettahjell, Ellen Andrea Wang, Karl Seglem, and others. Thom Hell (b. 1976), is a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist from Hånesin Kristiansand. Has released 8 albums as a solo artist and won 3 Norwegian Grammy Awards: 2 as artist of the year and 1 as pop composer of the year. Has worked as a producer and starring Jonas Alaska, Matilda, Jonas Fjeld and Marte Wulff. Thom Hell has also participated in several Norwegian Music TV shows.

Magnar Karlsen is a Norwegian drummer/percussionist/keyboardist who works in an ambient, improvised soundscape. In addition to his playful and original drumming he operates synthesizers and electronics with an impressive precision and feeling. Karlsen has earlier worked with samples and spoken words on his recordings. This time he invited well-known Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young (several releases on ECM) to improvise with him. Circles has the trademark "Nordic Sound" and is a wonderful journey of different moods and atmospheres. Jacob Young is a thrilling, distinctive presence on three of the five tracks on the album, and really puts his fingerprint on the sound.

REVIEWS:

Music is very much about meeting and chemistry. This meeting of Magnar Karlsen and Jacob Young is a great example of that.

-- Nettavisen

An exciting trip through an ambient soundscape. Synth sounds, percussion and guitar, improvisations blend in evocative, peaceful coexistence.

-- Jazz in Norway

Helge Iberg writes: “Listening to the Beatles in my childhood and early youth left lasting impressions. Their style of melody and harmony were as fresh and challenging as their attitude and concepts. No doubt they revealed groundbreaking ideas in the field of popular music. But whereas (for example) Stevie Wonder's ingenious song treasure is strongly woven into his advanced harmonies and iconic grooves, The Beatles' song portfolio is more accessible to artistic intervention and stylistic challenges. My re-creation of some iconic songs has jazz- and classical inspired ideas, but relies upon the melodic "naïveté" needed to safeguard the music's deep human appeal. The songs themselves are evergreen and alive, but can in this context only be justified by musical measures that should surprise and delight – preferably without being “artful”.

REVIEWS:

Norwegian pianist Helge Iberg has created these beautiful re-workings (not just arrangements) of twelve well-loved Beatles songs. Here jazz and classical inspiration meets with simple heartfelt melody. Enjoyable as new music in its own right.

-- Lark Reviews (Stephen Page)

Helge Iberg is a Norwegian composer and pianist, distinguished in jazz and classical idioms, who can move serenely from one to the other. His own fresh approach to the songs he grew up with began not surrounded by piles of sheet music, but sitting at the piano, relying on his memory.

This very fact may account for the air of reminiscence pervading all 12 pieces. They are improvisations, not formal arrangements, and some of them turn out very different from the originals. Following Iberg’s musical wanderings can be fascinating, touching and sometimes surprising. Why, for instance, does Here Comes the Sun have such an ominous ending? Eleanor Rigby plays clever tricks with melodic and harmonic variations, while Blackbird, Nowhere Man and She’s Leaving Home are gently beautiful.

-- The Guardian (Dave Gelly)

Anders Lønne Grønseth and the band Multiverse launches their third album Outer View. The band has been described as "currently one of the Norway's most original, ambitious, advanced and complete bands" and "a quintet that in a riveting way combines controlled melodicity with a trembling desire for improvisation" (Jazzinorge.no). Multiverse has created its own tonal language based on intuitive interaction, listening communication and musical openness. This is a jazz quintet that just as easily draws its inspiration from classical modernism, Indian raga or maqam from the Middle East. "The whole quintet seems to be controlled by one common brain," said one reviewer. The music is performed with great improvisational freedom and close interaction between musicians who in their own way have proven to be strong representatives of the Nordic jazz of today.

REVIEW:

The titles ‘Bilyrical’, ‘Bifokal’, ‘Bipolar Penguin Express’, and ‘Bikoral’, point to Grønseth’s interest in bitonality (although the composers of these tunes are, in order, Berg, Grønseth, Powell, Powell, which suggests that this interest is shared across the band). On previous outings (‘Multiverse’, ‘Theory of Everything’) all compositions were by Grønseth. On this release, he set his bandmates the challenge of creating compositions following the bitonal scale that he has been working on. In the liner notes, Grønseth describes the concept of bitonal scales as “…just another way to organize the tonal material by combining two…scales… The combined scales are spread out in thirds to form a two-octave scale span.” Amongst other features, this approach creates structural difference between lower and upper octave and, consequently, the loss of a perfect octave. While this music theory might seem challenging, the listener rarely encounters anything untoward—Grønseth says it is like “a musical coloring box slightly beyond your usual coloring chart.” And this is a really neat description of the feel of the music; often it sounds completely right, but sometimes it sounds right in a way that draws you up short.

What is particularly intriguing is the ways in which the approach to composition (which, if you’re seeking a musical analogy, are not unlike modal scales) are assimilated by each player to create a consistent set of tunes but which reflect nuances that arise from individual perspectives. This is an ingenious approach to furthering the shared musical understanding of the band and pays dividends in the ways in which the players immerse themselves in the tunes. In the end, the listener is rewarded with a set of tunes played with total commitment that are accessible, surprising, and richly enjoyable.

-- Jazz Views (Chris Baber)