LARS DANIELSSON — Liberetto (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

New dream duo in European jazz: Together with the Armenian pianist Tigran, Lars Danielsson explores new musical spaces and once again emphasises the freedom of music between chamber jazz, classical music and European folk music. ACT
Tracklist :
1    Yerevan 2:07
Composed By – Tigran Hamasyan
2    Liberetto 4:53
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
3    Day One 2:54
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
4    Orange Market 7:39
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
5    Hymnen 4:46
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
6    Svensk Låt 5:50
Composed By – Tigran Hamasyan
7    Hov Arer Sarer Djan 6:32
– Armenien Folk Song
Arranged By – Tigran Hamasyan
8    Party On The Planet 4:33
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
9    Tystnaden 2:42
Composed By – Danielsson, Tigran
10    Ahdes Theme 3:37
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
11    Driven To Daylight 4:52
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
12    Blå Ängar 4:14
Composed By – Lars Danielsson
Credits :
Cover [Cover Art "Untitles 2010" By], Artwork [Cover Art "Untitles 2010" By] – Martin Noël
Lars Danielsson - Bass, Cello, Wurlitzer piano on #8
Tigran - Piano, Vocals on #7
John Parricelli - Guitar
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Magnus Öström - Drums & Percussion

LARS DANIELSSON — Liberetto III (2017) FLAC (tracks), lossless

For Lars Danielsson, the master of harmony on bass and cello, the power of music lies in melody. It is the seed, the energy center from which everything unfolds. "Liberetto" embodies this approach for the third time. ACT
Tracklist :
1        Preludium    2:10
2        Agnus Dei    4:58
3        Lviv    4:38
4        Taksim By Night    4:16
5        Dawn Dreamer    6:26
6        Orationi    4:04
7        Sonata In Spain    4:08
8        Da Salo    6:05
9        Gimbri Heart    3:56
10        Mr Miller    3:35
11        Affrettando    5:19
12        Berchidda    4:46
Credits :
Lars Danielsson - Double Bass, Cello, Piano intro on 5 & 8, Wah-Wah
Cello & Guembri on 9
Grégory Privat - Piano
John Parricelli - Guitars
Magnus Öström - Drums & Percussion

Guests:
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet on 1, 2, 6, 9, Voice on 6
Dominic Miller - Acoustic Guitar on 10
Hussam Aliwat - Oud on 4 & 7
Björn Bohlin - English Horn on 2, 3, 8
& Oboe d'Amore on 1
Mathias Eick - Trumpet on 10

Christian Wallumrød Trio - No Birch (1998) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

ECM's already broad Nordic panorama is further expanded with the debut of a trio of young Norwegians. Their subtle, serious, original music shows an astute awareness of the achievements of Scandinavian jazz, yet also looks beyond it. The internal dynamic of the band derives from the adroit balancing of its members' musical preferences. Christian Wallumrød is inspired by Paul Bley's daring use of space, Arve Henriksen makes free improvisation his first priority, and Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen is recognized as the foremost classical percussionist in Norway today. ecm
Tracklist :
1    She Passes The House Of Her Grandmother 6'21
(Christian Wallumrød, Arve Henriksen, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen)
2    The Birch 1 3'08
(Christian Wallumrød)
3    Royal Garden 4'40
(Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen)
4    Somewhere East 5'51
(Christian Wallumrød)
5    Travelling: Far East / Slow Brook / I Lost My Heart In Moscow 14'15
(Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen, Christian Wallumrød, Arve Henriksen)
6    The Birch 2 3'08
(Christian Wallumrød)
7    Ballimaran 2'57
(Christian Wallumrød)
8    Watering 4'21
(Christian Wallumrød, Arve Henriksen, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen)
9    Before Church 5'12
(Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen, Christian Wallumrød)
10    The Birch 3 1'22
(Christian Wallumrød)
11    Two Waltzing, One Square And Then 5'59
(Arve Henriksen, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen, Christian Wallumrød)
12    Fooling Around 2'11
(Arve Henriksen, Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen, Christian Wallumrød)
13    The Gardener 3'39
(Arve Henriksen)
14    The Birch 4 3'07
(Christian Wallumrød)
Credits :
Christian Wallumrød - Piano
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Hans-Kristian Kjos Sørensen - Percussion

ARVE HENRIKSEN - Cartography (2010) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

A shifting cast of characters, with live sampling man and album co-producer Jan Bang at the centre, provides a series of soundscapes, an ambient-experimental map of moods, for the uniquely liquid, singing trumpet lines of Arve Henriksen to scale and explore. Some tracks are recorded live in concert, others are studio creations. Singer David Sylvian reads his own poetry on two cuts. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Poverty And Its Opposite 5'36
(Arve Henriksen, Audun Kleive, Jan Bang)
2    Before And Afterlife 6'42
(Jan Bang, David Sylvian, Arve Henriksen)
3    Migration 5'41
(Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang)
4    From Birth 2'44
(Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen, Audun Kleive)
5    Ouija 2'40
(Arve Henriksen, Erik Honoré, Jan Bang)
6    Recording Angel 6'23
(Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen)
7    Assembly 3'55
(Arve Henriksen, Erik Honoré, Jan Bang)
8    Loved One 4'04
(Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang)
9    The Unremarkable Child 2'04
(Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang)
10    Famine's Ghost: Part One - Part Two 4'28
(Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken, Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Audun Kleive)
11    Thermal 2'27
(Audun Kleive, Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen)
12    Sorrow And Its Opposite 4'29
(Asbjørn Arntsen)
Credits :
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet, Voice, Field Recording
David Sylvian - Voice, Samples, Programming
Jan Bang - Live Sampling, Samples, Programming, Beats, Bass Line, Dictaphone, Organ Samples, Arrangement
Eivind Aarset - Guitars
Lars Danielsson - Double-Bass
Anna Maria Friman - Voice
Audun Kleive - Percussion, Drums
Erik Honoré - Synthesizer, Samples, Field Recording, Choir Samples
Helge Sunde - String Arrangement, Programming
Arnaud Mercier - Treatments
Trio Mediaeval - Voice Sample
Vérène Andronikof - Vocals
Vytas Sondeckis - Vocal Arrangement
Ståle Storløkken - Synthesizer, Samples    

SINIKKA LANGELAND - Starflowers (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Starflowers” is a fascinating ECM debut for Norwegian vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland. A folk singer from the forest lands near the Swedish border, Langeland explores in her work the relationship between man and nature. On this disc she sets verse of lumberjack-poet Hans Børli (1918-89), with help from an outstanding ensemble including trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. Altogether: a marvellous confluence of folk music, sung poetry and Nordic improvisation brilliantly marshalled in Manfred Eicher’s production. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Høstnatt på Fjellskogen 4'10
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    Den lill fløyten 4'37
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    Sølv 3'09
(Sinikka Langeland)
4    Treet som vekser opp-ned 6'30
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    Saltstein 3'42
(Sinikka Langeland)
6    Sus i myrull 5'14
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    Støv 2'53
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    Stjernestund 7'52
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    Langt innpå skoga 8'08
(Sinikka Langeland)
10    Det er ei slik natt 4'00
(Sinikka Langeland)
11    Vindtreet 6'00
(Sinikka Langeland)
12    Elghjertet 5'54
(Sinikka Langeland)
13    Har du lyttet til elvene om natta? 9'08
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Vocals, Kantele
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Drums           

SINIKKA LANGELAND - The Land That is Not (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Further adventures at the interstices of folk music and jazz-rooted improvisation, as Sinikka Langeland takes the work begun on the much praised “Starflowers” to the next level. As the Irish Times’s Ray Comiskey noted of the earlier disc: “Sinikka Langeland is a gifted folk singer, but not one stifled by tradition. Her ability to work seamlessly with jazz musicians, as she does so memorably here, is part of the reason for the success of this marriage of folk, jazz and poetry. (…) Individually and collectively, the quintet is superb, Henriksen and Seim play brilliantly off the voice and each other, while the group catches a variety of moods persuasively; they can groove with understated power (…)” All of this applies with equal pertinence to “The Land That Is Not”. ecm
Tracklist
1    The Land That Is Not 7'56
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    What Is Tomorrow 4'49
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    A Strip Of Sea 2'27
(Anders Jormin, Sinikka Langeland)
4    Triumph Of Being 6'15
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    The River Murmurs 3'45
(Anders Jormin, Sinikka Langeland)
6    Lucky Cat 4'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    It's The Dream 4'17
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    The Day Cools 5'41
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    The Rose 3'14
(Sinikka Langeland)
10    Spring In The Mountain 3'26
(Sinikka Langeland)
11    Slowly The Truth Dawns 6'53
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Vocal, Kantele
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double-Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Drums        

SINIKKA LANGELAND - The Magical Forest (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After the largely instrumental The Half-Finished Heaven was issued in 2015, composer, kantele player, and musicologist Sinikka Langeland returns with The Magical Forest, a vocal album. These songs continue her long study of Finnskogen (music from the "forest of the Finns") lore based on fragments and traces she discovered in texts, stories, and songs about the axis mundi or "world tree." For this date she reassembled her full Starflowers quintet (named for her 2006 ECM debut) of trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin, and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. The group also played on her 2010 offering This Land That Is Not and has backed her in concert settings for a decade. Langeland also enlisted the vocal ensemble Trio Medieval, setting this date apart from virtually everything else she's done while retaining her musical character. The source material digs deep into the sense of place that the world tree represents, a pillar that connects not only earth to sky -- literally and poetically -- but the spiritual in pagan and Christian traditions.

Opener "Puun Loitsu" ("Prayer to the Tree Goddess") is a 19th century rune song offered as a near tribal chant. Langeland's voice and kantele are accompanied only by the bassline until two-thirds of the way through, when Trio Medieval adds a stunning modern polyphony. "Sammas," one of several lyrics attributed to Finnskogen seeress Kaisa Vilhunen, weaves a spectral jazz interlude to a folk song, where the axis mundi is a pillar to heaven made of silver and invokes the Holy Trinity in its introduction. The engagement between the frontline improvisers and rhythm section creates a moody, spectral soundworld for the singers. After a spoken word intro, "Vargman" ("Wolfman") becomes a haunting improvisational interplay between the quintet and Trio Medieval; Langeland's contralto relates a sung narrative above it all. Perhaps the most endearing quality of The Magical Forest, its center, so to speak, is Langeland's kantele playing. Her Finnish table harp bridges jazz improvisation and folk song in "Beaver," and illustrates the reach of Finnskogen from Western Europe to its outlying connections in Siberia and even Japan in "Kamu," and underscores the inseparable relationship in this music between vocalists and instrumentalists on "Pillar to Heaven." Langeland takes chances on The Magical Forest. She allows improvisers a greater degree of freedom. In turn, they extend the reach of her songs from the historical past to the present without erasing their folklore. By involving Trio Medieval, she invites a more fluid yet constant relationship between the physical and metaphysical. Together they illustrate the universal aspects of Finnskogen culture in global symbolism and myth.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist
1    Puun Loitsu 5'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    Sammas 4'23
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    Jacob’s Dream 7'38
(Sinikka Langeland)
4    The Wolfman 5'05
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    The Magical Forest 5'34
(Sinikka Langeland)
6    Køyri 5'45
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    Kamui 6'09
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    Karsikko 4'34
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    Pillar to Heaven 4'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Kantele, Vocals
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Percussion
Trio Mediaeval   
Anna Maria Friman - Vocals
Berit Opheim - Vocals
Linn Andrea Fuglseth - Vocals  

FRODE HALTLI - Passing Images (2007) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Frode Haltli, acknowledged as one of the most outstanding accordion soloists in contemporary music, is also an exceptional improviser and an authority on folk music. His second ECM recording under his own name brings all of these aspects of his musical character together. Repertoire includes a psalm from the western fjords, a lyrical waltz from Haltli‘s home village near the Swedish border, a Roma traveller tune that suggests Albert Ayler‘s sound-world... With a supporting cast including Irish-Scottish classical viola player Garth Knox (ex-Arditti Quartet) as well as Norwegian partners composer/singer Maja Ratkje and trumpeter Arve Henriksen, Haltli offers a radical new look at music from traditional sources. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Psalm 8'22
(Frode Haltli)
2    Inter 0'49
(Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, Arve Henriksen)
3    The Letter 3'33
(Frode Haltli)
4    Lude 2'46
(Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje, Garth Knox, Frode Haltli, Arve Henriksen)
5    Vandring 7'58
(Frode Haltli)
6    Pre 2'43
(Frode Haltli)
7    Jag haver ingen kärare 5'50
(Frode Haltli)
8    Lyrisk vals 6'06
(Frode Haltli)
9    Passing Images 8'54
(Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje)
10    Vals 3'00
(Frode Haltli)
Credits :
Frode Haltli   Accordion
Arve Henriksen   Trumpet
Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje   Vocals
Garth Knox   Viola

TRYGVE SEIM - Different Rivers (2000) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Trygve Seim’s ECM debut instantly established his reputation, winning the German Record Critics Prize as Album of the Year (Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). In the International Herald Tribune, Mike Zwerin observed that “Different Rivers is melancholy, lonely, hypnotizing music – harder to escape from than to listen to. Like a fireplace in an ice palace, you get hooked on it; it's almost physical. ... Seim's version of the ECM sound presents a wind-instrument chamber ensemble, a sort of slow-floating, pianissimo little-big band with occasional understated kicks. The shadow of Gil Evans hovers. The horn-blowers finesse their personal, breathy, non-symphonic textures from behind the beat.” Recorded 1998 and 1999. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Sorrows 6'27
(Trygve Seim)
2    Ulrikas Dans 7'49
(Trygve Seim)
3    Intangible Waltz 5'47
(Trygve Seim)
4    Different Rivers 5'51
(Trygve Seim)
5    Bhavana 4'23
(Trygve Seim)
6    The Aftermath: African Sunrise 6'16
(Trygve Seim)
7    Search Silence 0'50
(David Gald, Trygve Seim, Nils Jansen, Havard Lund, Bernt Simen Lund, Arve Henriksen, Hild Sofie Tafjord)
8    For Edward 5'33
(Trygve Seim, Arve Henriksen)
9    Breathe 9'19
(Trygve Seim)
10    Between 2'18
(Trygve Seim)
Credits :
Trygve Seim - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet, Vocal, Trumpophone
Havard Lund - Bass Clarinet, Clarinet
Nils Jansen - Bass Saxophone, Contrabass Clarinet, Sopranino Saxophone
Hild Sofie Tafjord - French Horn
Oyvind Braekke - Trombone
David Gald - Tuba
Stian Carstensen - Accordion
Bernt Simen Lund, Morten Hannisdal - Cello
Per Oddvar Johansen, Paal Nilssen-Love - Drums
Sidsel Endresen - Recitation

TRYGVE SEIM | ØYVIND BRAEKKE | PER ODDVAR JOHANSEN - The Source and Different Cikadas (2002) APE (image+.cue), lossless

Trygve Seim’s ECM debut instantly established his reputation, winning the German Record Critics Prize as Album of the Year (Jahrespreis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik). In the International Herald Tribune, Mike Zwerin observed that “Different Rivers is melancholy, lonely, hypnotizing music – harder to escape from than to listen to. Like a fireplace in an ice palace, you get hooked on it; it's almost physical. ... Seim's version of the ECM sound presents a wind-instrument chamber ensemble, a sort of slow-floating, pianissimo little-big band with occasional understated kicks. The shadow of Gil Evans hovers. The horn-blowers finesse their personal, breathy, non-symphonic textures from behind the beat.” Recorded 1998 and 1999. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Organismus Vitalis 5'21
(Trygve Seim)
2    Mmball 4'50
(Per Oddvar Johansen)
3    Funebre 2'07
(Witold Lutoslawski)
4    Deluxe 5'55
(Per Oddvar Johansen)
5    Bhavana 3'28
(Trygve Seim)
6    Saltpastill 4'38
(Øyvind Braekke)
7    Flipper 2'46
(Øyvind Braekke)
8    Plukk 4'33
(Øyvind Braekke)
9    Obecni Dum 2'23
(Trygve Seim)
10    Suppressions 4'12
(Øyvind Braekke)
11    Number Eleven 5'02
(Frode Haltli, Finn Guttormsen, Trygve Seim, Per Oddvar Johansen, Christian Wallumrød, Øyvind Braekke)
12    Fort-Jazz 5'36
(Trygve Seim)
13    Sen Kjellertango 6'02
(Øyvind Braekke)
14    Uten Forbindelse 5'13
(Per Oddvar Johansen)
15    Tutti Free 6'45
(Marek Konstantynowicz, Henrik Hannisdal, Arve Henriksen, Christian Wallumrød, Frode Haltli, Trygve Seim, Odd Hannisdal, Finn Guttormsen, Øyvind Braekke, Per Oddvar Johansen, Morten Hannisdal)
Credits :
Trygve Seim   Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Clarophone
Øyvind Braekke   Trombone
Per Oddvar Johansen   Drums
Finn Guttormsen   Double-Bass
Frode Haltli   Accordion, Bass Trombone
Arve Henriksen   Trumpet
Christian Wallumrød   Piano
Odd Hannisdal   Violin
Henrik Hannisdal   Violin
Marek Konstantynowicz   Viola
Morten Hannisdal   Violoncello

TRYGVE SEIM - Sangam (2004) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

“Sangam”, means “coming together”, in Sanskrit, sometimes taken to signify “the meeting point of three rivers”. Interpret that literally in Trygve Seim’s case and the different rivers might symbolize the cross-referencing of jazz, contemporary composition and diverse world folk traditions in his work. On the second ECM album issued under his name, the Norwegian saxophonist draws inspiration from musical and non-musical sources both local and far-flung, bringing these influences to bear on compositions and arrangements that are uniquely personal. Seim has been heard recently with The Source, the improvising group he co-leads with Øyvind Brække and Per Oddvar Johansen (both featured here), and has guested on Christian Wallumrød’s “Sofienberg Variations”, but “Sangam” is closer in spirit to “Different Rivers”, the ECM debut that overwhelmed international critics in 2001. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Sangam 6'26
(Trygve Seim)
2    Dansante 12'01
(Trygve Seim)
3    9'23
Beginning an Ending
(Trygve Seim)
Trygve Seim - Himmelrand i Tidevand
4    part I 8'17
5    part II 6'23
6    part III 9'01
7    part IV 5'12
8    Trio 6'57
(Trygve Seim)
9    Prayer 5'31
(Trygve Seim)
Credits :
Trygve Seim - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Havard Lund - Clarinet, Bass Clarinet
Nils Jansen - Bass Saxophone, Contrabass Clarinet
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Tone Reichelt - French Horn
Lars Andreas Haug - Tuba
Frode Haltli - Accordion
Morten Hannisdal - Cello
Per Oddvar Johansen - Drums
Oyvind Braekke, Christian Eggen, Helge Sunde - Trombone

JON BALKE - Magnetic Works : 1993-2001 (2012) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This 2-CD anthology, assembled by Jon Balke, contains music from a trilogy of albums made in the period 1993 to 2001 by the Magnetic North Orchestra, drawing upon the same core of musicians, with Audun Kleive and Anders Jormin as the ensemble’s pulsating engine and Morten Halle, Per Jørgensen and, later, Arve Henriksen as the leading melodic improvising players. The integration of string players was a key element of the music, and the MNO worked with a high profiled line of musicians. Balke: “My agenda after leaving Oslo 13 was to work my way around the overwhelming big band sound as the defining characteristic of a large improvising ensemble. Inspired by Gil Evans, Claus Ogerman and Oum Khalsoum, I saw the possibility of blending my favourite musicians into a sound that could wrap itself around my compositional ideas.” The compilation includes music from Magnetic North’s ECM albums “Further” (1517) and “Kyanos” (1822) albums as well as nine tracks from the album “Solarized”, previously issued by Emarcy and long out-of-print. ecm
Tracklist 1 :
1    Departure    0:53
2    Changing Song    5:21
3    Flying Thing    4:56
4    Horizontal Song    4:56
5    Moving Carpet    5:19
6    Taraf    6:18
7    Shaded Place    4:38
8    Present Position    5:36
9    Solarized    6:40
10    Dark And Slow    5:34
11    In Degrees    1:31
Tracklist 2 :
1    Curve    7:51
2    Circular    4:04
3    Vertical    1:31
4    Encoded    3:44
5    Elusive Song    3:52
6    In Vitro    4:12
7    Plica    2:49
8    Zygotos    4:34
9    Karyon    3:04
10    Mutatio    4:53
11    Katabolic    5:04
12    Kyanos    3:44
All Credits