Three Rune Albums You Might Like

Damn! Time flies and it seems like I have a hard time catching up with the blogging.

That´s why you get this collection of three albums from Rune Grammofon that you should check out.
What they have in common? The music is good and they are on the same label!

- "Supersilent 12" was recorded during three different sessions in 2011. Dark and stunning improv from Arve Henriksen, Helge Sten and Ståle Storløkken.

- Sidsel Endresen & Stian Westerhus: "Bonita" - A studio recording this time, and an "Essential listening for the adventurous music lover"

- Albatrosh: "Night Owl"- Eyolf Dale (p) and André Roligheten (sax). This must be jazz, and it smells good!

Nasjonal Jazzscene

Oslo´s Nasjonal Jazzscene´s (National Jazz Scene) new YouTube channel seems to be worth following!

So far they have uploaded Stian Westerhus & Sidsel Endresen (shown here), Hedvig Mollestad Trio (rocking good!) and a 3 x solo concert with Gard Nilssen, Sofia Jernberg and Morten Qvenild.

Prepare yourselves for some unedited streaming video with pauses (mostly in the last of these three videos) but what the heck, bee positive now! I hope more clubs and festivals will do stuff like this.

Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses live in Budapest

Check out the video of Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses (Erland Dahlen and Øystein Moen) live in Budapest (February 2014), and wait for their Rune Grammofon album to be released in March.

Supersilent with Stian Westerhus

Yesterday I was finally able to attend a concert again, after a (far too long) break! And what a show!

Supersilent (Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken and Helge Sten) brought Stian Westerhus along to Bergen, to play at Action Jazz in the Bergen Kjøtt venue.
Rock, noise, ambient, electronica? All of it I guess, but The Supersilent way, and as usual with this group, Henriksen playing more drums and electronics than trumpet.

Great lights/visuals by Bergen´s Birk Nygård.

There have not been any Supersilent albums since 2010 (the vinyl only "11"), so it might be time for a new one?

Cameras were rolling during the concert, so hopefully we will see some of it in not too long. In the meantime, check out the video from their concert at Jazzhouse, Copenhagen in October 2013 here.

Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses

Rune Grammofon will release an album by Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses (Erland Dahlen and Øystein Moen) in March 2014.

Soon touring:

28.1 Club Bastion, Kirchheim unter Teck, D
29.1 Stadtgarten, Köln, D
30.1 Domicil, Dortmund, D
31.1 Zeche Karl, Essen, D
01.02 Linse, Ravensburg, D
02.02 B-Flat, Berne, CH
07.02 Cemal Resit Rey, Istanbul, TUR (supporting Jaga Jazzist)
08.02 TRAFO, Budapest, HUN
09.02 Porgy & Bess, Vienna AT

My photos of the band at Molde International Jazz Festival 2013.

Sailing to Byzantium

In December Rune Grammofon released another beautiful collection, the 4 X 10" box "Sailing to Byzantium", a "strictly one-off edition of only 500 copies".

You get a nice selection of Rune tracks, perfectly "themed" on the different records, a fold out poster and a Rob Young interview with label boss Rune Kristoffersen and designer Kim Hiorthøy.
Arve Henriksen´s "Silver Box" is an exclusive.

Blue:
Hedvig Mollestad Trio – Sing, Goddess
Bushman´s Revenge – As We Used To Sing (Live)
Scorch Trio – Kjøle Høle

Green:
Motorpsycho – Year Zero (A Damage Report)
FIRE! – Your Silhouette On Each (Without Noticing)
Elephant9 – Hardcore Orientale

White:
Phaedra – Honeydewed Autumn
Jenny Hval – Blood Flight
The Last Hurrah!! – The Lonely Whistle Call
Hilde Marie Kjersem – That Day In The Shower
Tove Nilsen – Jordan

Red:
Sidsel Endresen & Stian Westerhus - Drawing An Arc
Maja Ratkje - Intro
Alog – Baklandet
Espen Eriksen Trio – In The Woods
Nils Økland – Blond Blå
Arve Henriksen – Silver Box


Look for the previous samplers from Rune Grammofon here.

Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses Feat. Susanna Wallumrød

Now this is a concert I really would have liked to attend!
Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses Feat. Susanna Wallumrød in Trondheim´s cathedral, Nidarosdomen, August 2013.

Øystein Moen is on keyboards and Erland Dahlen plays the drums.

Arve Henriksen and Supersilent

Here you get Arve Henriksen (trumpet, vocal) at Jazzhouse Copenhagen (9 October 2013), with Jan Bang (live sampling), Audun Kleive (percussion), Ingar Zach (percussion) and Helge Andreas Norbakken (percussion), and Supersilent with Stian Westerhus Live at Paradox, Incubate Festival, Tilburg (17 September 2013).

Supersilent is Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken and Helge Sten.

Sidsel Endresen and Stian Westerhus – Porgy & Bess, Vienna

Watch Sidsel Endresen and Stian Westerhus at the Porgy & Bess club in Vienna 1 February 2013. Full concert.

Tuesday at Moldejazz

Some great music being played in Molde these days, in between (and during) showers of rain!

Tuesday I heard Tim Berne´s Snakeoil play in the early afternoon. Tim Berne (alto), Oscar Noriega (clarinets), Matt Michell (piano) and Ches Smith (dr, perc) did a fantastic concert, partly strictly composed, partly great solos. One extra star to Noriega this time.

The ECM release "Snakeoil" (2012) is still hot!

Around midnight Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses entered the stage! I was a bit shocked when Westerhus started singing (!), but it all worked out fine!

The trio might be new, but the musicians are well known, with Øystein Moen on keyboards and Erland Dahlen drums.

Great music (please note, some people claim that this must be good stuff for Sigurd Ros fans), and fantastic lights during the concert.

Pan Gu

In Chinese mythology Pan Gu is the primeval man, born of a cosmic egg, but Pan Gu is also a duo with Lasse Marhaug (elektronics) and Leslie Low (guitar, voice). They have released an album called (prepare yourselves now!) "Primeval Man Born of the Cosmic Egg" on Utech Records (2013). The music is all improvised, it´s dark but beautiful (yes!) and spiced with noise elements. The music was recorded by Stian Westerhus in Oslo in 2011.

You may also listen on Utech´s Bandcamp, and download the album for a small amount of money.
I bought a vinyl copy at Tiger in Oslo, and you may shop from the record company too. 300 copies made, it seems.

Here are a couple of videos from September and December 2012.

Jan Bang: "Sinking Ship"

Jan Bang recently uploaded the piece "Sinking Ship", taken from the forthcoming album "Narrative from the Subtropics" (Jazzland 2013), on SoundCloud. The album will be released 6 September, nicely timed with PUNKT 2013.

Musicians:

Jan Bang: samples, programming
Arve Henriksen: trumpet, vocal
Stian Westerhus: guitar
David Soler: guitar samples.

Stian Westerhus/Jan Bang/Erik Honoré

Here is an excerpt from Stian Westerhus (g), Jan Bang (live sampling, electronics) and Erik Honoré´s (live sampling, electronics) concert at Tape To Zero in Oslo (April 2013). Sounds (and looks) like a great show!

Tord Knudsen: Visuals. Johnny Skalleberg: Live sound. Ingo Biermann: Video.

Please watch more videos from the festival at Kjetil Husebø´s YouTube channel.

Tape to Zero 2013

If you happen to be in Oslo 18 and 19 April, you should check out Kjetil Husebø´s two day festival Tape to Zero.

Most exciting perhaps, is Stian Westerhus´cooperation with the PUNKT comrades Jan Bang and Erik Honoré and the "doom piano trio" (don´t ask!) Splashgirl!

And don´t forget Splashgirl´s new album "Field Day Rituals" (Hubro 2013).

Nils Petter Molvær Trio live in Frankfurt

Nils Petter Molvær Trio (Nils Petter Molvær, Stian Westerhus og Erland Dahlen) live at Frankfurt Jazz Festival - 27.10.2012.

Great! Or what?

Stian Westerhus on sound

KLANG: Stian Westerhus, Vigelands mausoleum og god lyd from ENO Magasin on Vimeo.

The Norwegian music magazine ENO has so far hardly had a web page, but are starting an interview series on sound.

The first video is with Stian Westerhus, recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland Museum in Oslo.

And a minor detail - he speaks Norwegian, but I think you still should give it a try, for the beautiful filming and the sounds this fantastic guitar player makes.

A November Festival

- Stian Westerhus - Birmingham 2012.
- Maja S.K. Ratkje and Ikue Mori - LUFF 2012.
- Evan Parker, Peter Evans and Okkyung Lee - Unlimited, Wels 2012.
- Fred Frith, Jordan Glenn and Jason Hoopes - Berkeley Arts Fest 2012.
- The Thing - Blue Tomato 2012.
- Neneh Cherry & The Thing - Konfrontationen 2012.
- Nils Bech - Henie Onstad Kunstsenter 2012.

Nils Petter Molvær Trio at Palm Jazz Festiwal 2012

It is Friday night and concert night here in Robert Wyatt and Stuff, with 80 minutes of Nils Petter Molvær Trio at Palm Jazz Festiwal in Poland (24 October 2012)!

Nils Petter Molvær (tp)
Stian Westerhus (g)
Erland Dahlen (dr)
Tord Knudsen (visuals)

Check out a video from "Jazz and the city" in Salzburg (12 October) too, for some more lights and visuals!

Stian Westerhus & Pekka Stokke

Stian Westerhus & Pekka Stokke, Saga Inderøy. from pekka on Vimeo.

Stian Westerhus: Great music!
Pekka Stokke: Great lights!

Inderøy Jazzforum (Norway) 20 September 2012.

The Matriarch And The Wrong Kind Of Flowers

Oh my! Please check out Stian Westerhus´ new album: "The Matriarch And The Wrong Kind Of Flowers" (Rune Grammofon 2012)! He "plays guitar" and sings (!), making soundscapes that are hard to believe. Warm, cold, sad and mighty moods will wash over you, while you listen. (Hard to describe, as you will understand!)

The music is partly recorded at the Emanuel Vigeland mausoleum in Oslo, with it´s massive reverb, and Westerhus even makes it sound like there are violins and organs in here too.

Mostly improvised I believe, but there are melodies, and nods to the music history too. Listen to "Shine", with the guitar sounding like it is made of glass or ice, and see if you will imagine "Pink Floyd on ice" too (more glacier than Disney I believe!).

And don´t forget Stian Westerhus´ previous album: "Pitch Black Star Spangled" (Rune Grammofon 2010). You need both of them.

The album should have been released on black vinyl, with 100 copies extra on blue vinyl to satisfy the crazy collectors. But a mistake was done, and all of the albums were pressed on blue vinyl, forcing Rune Grammofon to order 100 copies on red vinyl for the collectors! Fun heh? Mp3s can´t compete with this!