FRODE HALTLI | VERTAVO STRING QUARTET - Looking on Darkness (2002) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Looking on Darkness is the solo recording debut of accordionist Frode Haltli, a major talent from Norway, destined to make his mark on several genres. He was last heard on ECM in the company of Trygve Seim and friends, but his primary commitment is to the performance of contemporary composition and this album features Nordic new music - from Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland - written for the accordion. Four of the five pieces are premiere recordings, written especially for Halti. They add up to a fascinating landscape of new music from the north, music which casts its inspirational net wide. Features compositions by Bent Sørensen, Asbjørn Schaathun, Magnus Lindberg, PerMagnus Lindborg, and Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje. Halti is joined by the Vertavo String Quartet for Ratkje's gagaku variations. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Looking on darkness 9'50
(Bent Sørensen)
2    Bombastic SonoSofisms 8'40
(PerMagnus Lindborg)
3    gagaku variations (for accordion and string quartet) 23'36
(Maja Solveig Kjelstrup Ratkje)
4    Jeux d'anches 8'12
(Markus Lindberg)
5    Lament 9'26
(Asbjørn Schaathun)
Credits :
Frode Haltli   Accordion
Vertavo String Quartet   
Øyvor Volle   Violin
Berit Cardas   Violin
Henninge Landaas   Viola
Bjørg Vaernes   Violoncello

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

FRODE HALTLI | ARDITTI QUARTET | TRONDHEIM SOLOISTS - Air (Sørensen | Abrahamsen) (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The innovative Norwegian accordionist Frode Haltli is heard here with chamber orchestra, with string quartet and solo, performing music written for him by Danish composers Bent Sørensen and Hans Abrahamsen. Sørensen, he notes, has been an influence on his development  as a player, challenging  perceptions of what can be achieved on  the accordion  through tone control and nuances in soft dynamics, a subject explored in detail on It is Pain Flowing Down Softly on a White Wall, where Haltli is heard with the Trondheim Soloists. Hans Abrahamsen’s Three Little Nocturnes find the accordionist in the company of the redoubtable Arditti Quartet. For the title composition Air, Hans Abrahamsen returned, at Frode Haltli’s suggestion, to the early solo work Canzona,  reworking until it became a new piece “characterized by a great sense of peace and a cohesive form”. ecm
Tracklist :
Bent Sørensen
1    It is Pain Flowing Down Slowly on a White Wall 21'30
Hans Abrahamsen
2    Air 11'04
Three Little Nocturnes
3    Andante amabile 2'23
4    Allegro appassionato 2'34
5    Langsam gehend, immer zögernd, mit unsicheren, schleppenden Schritten 3'50
Bent Sørensen
6    Sigrids Wiegenlied 3'26
Credits :
Frode Haltli - Accordion
Arditti Quartet :   
Irvine Arditti - Violin
Ashot Sarkissjan - Violin
Ralf Ehlers - Viola
Lucas Fels - Violoncello
Trondheim Soloists 

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

TRYGVE SEIM | FRODE HALTLI - Yeraz (2008) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Norwegian musicians Seim and Haltli have collaborated often over the years, and Frode is also a member of Trygve’s “Sangam” ensemble. But the flexible duo format has provided a particularly useful forum for the exploration of the most divergent music – from the Armenian folk song that gives the album its title to free play, from Gurdjieff to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”, and new and old tunes by Trgyve - as well as the exploration of sound, the plangent cry of the sax against the accordion’s breathing reeds. The Seim/Haltli duo has been a popular touring unit in recent seasons: this is the first, eagerly-anticipated, recorded documentation of its music. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Praeludium / Bayaty / Duduki 12'39
(Frode Haltli, Trygve Seim, George Ivanovitch Gurdjieff)
2    Airamero 10'11
(Trygve Seim)
3    Introduction / Yeraz 6'30
(Traditional, Trygve Seim)
4    L'Altra Storia 5'54
(Trygve Seim)
5    MmBall 5'56
(Per Oddvar Johansen)
6    Bhavana 5'20
(Trygve Seim)
7    Fast Jazz 4'57
(Trygve Seim)
8    Redemption Song 4'40
(Bob Marley)
9    Waits For Waltz 8'05
(Trygve Seim)
10    Postludium 5'56
(Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli)
Credits :
Trygve Seim   Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Frode Haltli   Accordion