The all-star Martin Hagfors Cream of the Crop band featuring members from Jaga Jazzist, Hellbillies, Askil Holm band, Velvet Belly and Motorpsycho is doing a few dates around Norway in October. Their recent Øya Festivalen performance was just too good. The dates:
10/06 - Betong, Oslo
10/07 - Rosendal Kino, Trondheim
10/08 - Secret gig, tba
US label Touch & Go is releasing that Motorpsycho/Jaga Jazzist horn section "In the Fishtank" collaboration CD domestically next week.
News from Norweigan avant label Rune Grammofon:
New Rune Grammofon signing Susanna and the Magical Orchestra is featured on "The Wire Tapper 10", the double cd that is in included with all copies of the October issue of The Wire. They are represented with "Believer", a beautiful track produced by Andreas Mjøs (Jaga Jazzist) and mixed and co-produced by Helge Sten (Deathprod, Supersilent).
Susanna and the Magical Orchestra are Susanna Wallumrød on vocals and Morten Qvenild (formerly of Jaga Jazzist), and they will make their UK debut in London at the launch of "Money Will Ruin Everything", the 2CD compilation and book to be released by Rune Grammofon in late October. Their debut album is scheduled for release in January.
"here's no doubt that Jaga Jazzist are another name to be added to the growing list of worthy and adventurous projects emerging from Scandinavia." Better late than never, PopMatters has posted their short take on Jaga Jazzist's US debut EP "Animal Chin".
FakeJazz reviews the Motorpsycho/Jaga Jazzist horn section "In the Fishtank" collaboration: "Despite some incredible contributions to the In the Fishtank series from Low + Dirty Three, Tortoise + The Ex, and June of 44, this stands far above the rest as the most intricate and thought-out offering yet."
Lars Horntveth from Jaga Jazzist will be entering the Duper Studios with producer/engineer Jørgen "Dupermann" Træen in November to begin work on a solo album, due out next spring on Smalltown Supersound. But if you're curious to get a preview of the material, you can check him out at the Ultima Festival at Blå in Oslo on October 9 where he will be performing with a 9-person backing band.
Here's a page with all the info about that upcoming "In the Fishtank" record featuring Motorpsycho along with the Jaga Jazzist horns. Could be very cool methinks - they describe it as a "stunning cocktail of Stax Soul, John Coltrane and obviously, Pharaoh Sanders." Look for it on October 6 from Konkurrent.
Jaga Jazzist will play the Tränenpalast stage at the Berlin Jazzfestival on November 8. More info here.
Singer Suzanna Wallumrød (sister of ECM pianist Christian Wallumrød) and pianist Morten Qvenild (shining, ex-Jaga Jazzist) just finished up with the recording of their debut album together. It was produced by Andreas Mjøs of Jaga Jazzist, mixed by Helge Sten aka Deathprod (Supersilent, ex-Motorpsycho) and will see a release on Rune Gramofon in January.
"Running partly concurrently with Matthew Herbert was Jaga Jazzist. A Norwegian 10-piece whose members double and even triple instruments to create an incredibly flexible unit, the band plays a blend of music that is entirely its own, mixing virtuoso solos (including bass clarinet) with complex ensemble arrangements. While there's a slight touch of prog rock in the compulsive time-changes, Jaga Jazzist is the best band I've seen all year. Real music may be catching up with the Big Chill aesthetic after all."
That's the UK's Independent talking about Jaga's recent performance at the Big Chill Festival. Read the entire article here.
New from Rune Grammofon: Supersilent's latest album "6" is being released on double 180 g vinyl in a special 1000 copy limited edition run. It's already available for ordering from their website.
In other news from RG, they will be putting out Jono El Grande's new CD "Fevergreens" on September 15. Here's how they describe it:
"The young Norwegian composer leads his 9-piece orchestra through a collection of instrumentals musically close to early seventees Rock In Opposition/Canterbury/Henry Cow/Zappa but more arranged and polished with nods to TV series music/easy listening/Bacharach.Art music with hooks"
And lastly, they will also be releasing 2xCD comp/book called "Money Will Ruin Everything" on October 27. The discs will feature 30 tracks from "known and unknown Norwegian electronica, ambient, improv, jazz and contemporary" artists including Supersilent, Biosphere, Kim Hiorthøy, Food, Deathprod, Arve Henriksen, Alog, Phonophani, Nils Økland, Jaga Jazzist, Information, SPUNK, Arne Nordheim, Lasse Marhaug and more. The book part is a 96-page hardback designed by Kim Hiorthøy and will feature graphics, photos, discography and texts by Wire Magazine editor Rob Young and design writer Adrian Shaughnessy along with Kim Hiorthøy interviewing RG's own Rune Kristoffersen. Very cool - I know I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for that one.
'North is the place' indeed! Musique Machine has put up an interview with Jaga Jazzist vibes/keys player Andreas Mjøs. They talk about a lot of different subjects including the Norweigan scene, various side projects such as Shining and Rotoscope, and much more.
Nova Recordings is the new distributor for Deleted Art in Europe. Check 'em out if you're interested in getting a hold of records from C.Aarmé, The New Mess, the upcoming Threeminutepopsongs debut and more.
Via DJ Martian, comes first this review from the BBC of "Digital Prophecy" from Dhafer Youssef which features guest appearances from various Nordic jazz musicians such as Nils Petter Molvaer, Eivind Aarset and Arve Henriksen. Next, is this BBC One World tracklist with highlights from the Big Chill festival featuring artists such as Ralph Myers, Nu Spirit Helsinki, Jaga Jazzist and more. Listen to it streamed here.
Here's the top 20 Swedish albums of the week, as reported by Aftonbladet:
01. Per Gessle - Mazarin
02. Carola - Guld platina & passion - det bästa
03. Tomas Ledin - I sommarnattens ljus
04. The Cardigans - Long gone before daylight
05. Anna-Lotta Larson - Tidlöst
06. Robyn - Don't stop the music
07. Pugh Rogefeldt - Pughs bästa
08. Robert Wells - Rhapsody in rock the complete collection
09. Glenmark Eriksson Strömstedt - Den andra skivan
10. Lisa Nilsson - Samlade sånger 1992-2003
11. Da Buzz - More than alive
12. Lars Winnerbäck och hovet - Söndermarken
13. Style - Samlade hits
14. Kent - Vapen & ammunition
15. Tommy Körberg - Gränslös - det bästa med
16. Anders Johansson - If it's all I ever do
17. Timbuktu - The botten is nådd!
18. Per Myrberg - Sommarnatt Per Myrberg sjunger Taube
19. Moneybrother - Blood panic
20. Magnus Carlson - Ett kungarike för en kram
Pitchforkmedia.com has a short blurb on Junior Senior's "Move Your Feet" single today. I'm really surprised these guys haven't caught on more quickly over here yet. I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens after the domestic issue of the album in September.
Motorpsycho has reportedly been recording for the "In the Fishtank" live series from Konkurrent Records along with the Jaga Jazzist horn section. They apparently recorded about 50 minutes of music together such as a 22-minute version of "Tristano", "Theme de Yo-Yo" (Art Ensemble of Chicago) and a Lars Horntvedt-penned track called "India". Look for it around September, avalable from Touch & Go in the US. In the rumor mill: live Japan dates in December? I'll keep you posted if I get any details.
Last Days of April are currently back in the studio with producer/engineer Pelle Gunnerfeldt working on a new album. The plan is to do the tracking at Mission Hall Studio outside of Lund and then mix it at Pelle's own Studio Gröndal in Stockholm.