The 20th album, and just before the 20th anniversary! The legendary wonder orchestra, dining out of a seemingly inexhaustible pool of madly talented academic musicians under the direction of the renowned Norwegian bassist OLE MORTEN VÅGAN (MOTIF).
At the Trondheim Jazz Festival (2014) there was the first performance of the joint project, which also guested on the Jazzahead in 2016. VÅGAN, who not only composed the material, produced the completed album together with MARTIN TAXT by MNJ RECORDS. Already on three previous albums of the TRONDHEIM JAZZ ORCHERSTRA he had been a guest. To a certain extent, VÅGAN continues to develop the motifs of his original MOTIF with the TJO – in a greatly enlarged screen format – in which the apocalyptic images of the English Romantic JOHN MARTIN could have been the godfather. The playful album title refers both to the “happy ending” as well as the “endling”, last survivor of a family line.
The absurd motive of a humanity, which blinds the eyes to the catastrophes, and yet still seems to wait for some adults to come and solve the problems, has deeply internalized VÅGAN. Which does not mean that the almost 72 minutes of music are like an apocalyptic cacophony. Without any prior knowledge of the topic and the aesthetic concept, numerous references can be discovered in this cornucopia of the finally liberated harmonies, metric and rhythms, be it ZAPPA or JOHN COLTRANE’s “Africa / Brass”, as well as the more dramatic parts of LEONARD BERNSTEIN or nuances of TODD MATSHIKIZA South African jazz opera “King Kong” (1959).
If you ask VÅGAN, he refers more to the 60s Freedom Jazz, GYÖRGY LIGETI, THE ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO or the traditional whispering song in Burundi, central Burundi. At the end there is a profoundly bewitching and disturbing jazz masterpiece, which, in the tradition of the younger works of KAMASI WASHINGTON or BINKER & MOSES, appeals to an audience that still – or re-greases – the final format that has been exhausted.
The Band:
Ole Morten Vågan – double bass, compositions
Sofia Jernberg – vocals
Ola Kvernberg – violin
Eivind Lønning – trumpet
Øyvind Braekke – trombone
Fredrik Ljungkvist – tenor saxophone, clarinet
Eirik Hegdal – saxophone, clarinet
Espen Reinertsen – tenor saxophone, bass clarinet
Øyvind Engen – cello
Ståle Storløkken – Hammond organ / Effects
Oscar Grønberg – Piano
Gard Nilssen – Drums, Links
Håkon Mjåset Johansen – Drums, Right
Tracks:
- Vilken Lat Ska Vi Inte Spela Nu
- The Sussex Pub In Essex (Or The Essex Pub In Sussex)
- Me Tar Sand, You Jane
- Far Ago And Long Away
- Disco Dreams
- Un-Merry-Go-Round
- The Barrage Jam
- Slob rock
ODIN CD/LP 9567
release: 26th of October 2018