TORBJØRN SUNDE — Meridians (1998) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Tracklist :
1    Arctic (Prologue)    5:04
2    Kjære Maren    9:46
3    Vertigo    6:55
4    Imensidão Do Mar    6:37
5    Rotation    7:14
6    Tell Us, Tellus    4:29
7    Confronting Hemispheres    5:51
8    Antarctic (Epilogue)    7:34
Credits :
Acoustic Bass – Bjørn Kjellemyr (tracks: 2 to 5)
Acoustic Guitar – Børge Petersen-Øverleir (tracks: 1, 8), Eivind Aarset (tracks: 3)
Alto Saxophone – Morten Halle (tracks: 7)
Bass Drum [Concert Bassdrum] – Joakim Nordin (tracks: 6)
Bongos – Manolo Badrena (tracks: 1), Rune Arnesen (tracks: 3, 5)
Chimes [Barchimes] – Joakim Nordin (tracks: 6, 7)
Congas, Tambourine, Triangle [Triangles], Cabasa, Finger Cymbals [Fingercymbals] – Manolo Badrena (tracks: 8)
Cowbell, Percussion [Jamblock], Percussion [Handdrum], Shekere, Finger Cymbals [Fingercymbals], Gong – Joakim Nordin (tracks: 7)
Drums – Per Oddvar Johansen (tracks: 6, 7), Rune Arnesen (tracks: 2 to 5)
Electric Bass – Geir Holmsen (tracks: 7)
Electric Guitar – Børge Petersen-Øverleir (tracks: 6, 7), Eivind Aarset (tracks: 5), Terje Rypdal (tracks: 2)
Fretless Bass – Geir Holmsen (tracks: 6)
Grand Piano – Bugge Wesseltoft (tracks: 4, 6, 7)
Grand Piano, Keyboards – Jon Balke (tracks: 1)
Keyboards – Bugge Wesseltoft (tracks: 2 to 7), Jon Balke (tracks: 8)
Percussion [Timba], Percussion [Indian Drums] – Celio De Carvalho (tracks: 8)
Shaker [Shakers], Flute [Flutes] – Manolo Badrena (tracks: 4)
Tenor Saxophone – Petter Wettre (tracks: 7)
Trombone – Torbjørn Sunde
Trumpet – Jens Petter Antonsen (tracks: 7)
Udu – Celio De Carvalho (tracks: 1)
Vocals – Torbjørn Sunde (tracks: 1, 3, 4, 6, 8)
Wood Block [Woodblocks], Triangle [Triangles] – Celio De Carvalho (tracks: 4)

MARKUS STOCKHAUSEN | ARILD ANDERSEN | PATRICE HÉRAL | TERJE RYPDAL — Kartā (2000) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This end-of-the-millennium quartet session probably best defines all the inherent contradictions in who ECM attracts to the label -- what kind of musician records for them -- and what concerns these artists and ECM's chief producer (and creator) Manfred Eicher hold in common. This set, although clearly fronted by Markus Stockhausen and Arild Andersen on brass and bass, respectively, allows space for the entire quartet to inform its direction. Héral and Rypdal are not musicians who can play with just anybody; their distinctive styles and strengths often go against the grain of contemporary European jazz and improvised music. Of the 11 compositions here, four are collectively written, with two each by Andersen and Stockhausen. "Flower of the Now" uses space and texture to create a harmonic architecture, skeletal though it may be. Stockhausen states a theme that acts as the syntax for the painterly drumming of Héral and Rypdal's interlocution between all the drifting parties. "Sway" begins with Héral's trans-African drumming, followed by the fury of Rypdal's own brand of guitar improvisation. He edges through musical frameworks of the past in rock, blues, and jazz, cutting them down in the process of playing knotty arpeggios and deconstructed riffs that rely on harmonic rather than lyrical language. When Stockhausen moves into the fray, it's sparingly in stark contrast to Rypdal's splatter and roll methodology and brings things to a near halt, with only Andersen to slip a groove through the band's abstractions. This is a record of "sonics," an area not unlike the forbidden "Zone" filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky's hero, who guides people through in the film Stalker -- forbidden, wasted, and beautifully desolate. When listeners reach the place in "Auma" where Andersen's bass employs electronic devices to give it an "orchestra" or chamber section quality, they can hear how attentive this crew really is to one another. They move about slowly and purposefully in the musical spheres where sound, language, and harmonic monoliths all give way into something less definite, less shapely or contoured in favor of the unspeakable, the unmentionable, the inarticulate speech of the heart as it enters, through sound's language: one of tension, dynamic, nuance, and texture, the various places where spoken language fails so miserably. In all, Karta is an effort that showcases the very best of its collective: It contains aesthetic grace and elegance as well as great violence and chaos. For all the recordings in "popular" music made at the end of the century, this is the one that sums up best where Western music has traveled these last hundred years, and points to just how far it yet needs to journey in the next thousand. Karta is soulful, tender, and frightening.
-> This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa' <-
Tracklist :
1    Sezopen 4:50
Composed By – Andersen
2    Flower Of Now 9:15
Composed By – Stockhausen
3    Wood And Naphta 2:55
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
4    Sway 4:24
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
5    Auma 8:02
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
6    Legacy 5:18
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
7    Invocation 4:44
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
8    Wild Cat 7:57
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
9    Emanation
Composed By – Andersen, Stockhausen, Héral, Rypdal
10    Choral 3:57
Composed By – Stockhausen
11    Lighthouse 8:40
Composed By – Andersen
Credits :
Double Bass – Arild Andersen
Drums, Percussion, Electronics [Live Electronics] – Patrice Héral
Electric Guitar – Terje Rypdal
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Piccolo Trumpet – Markus Stockhausen

MICHAEL GALASSO - High Lines (2005) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Best known, if at all, as avant-garde director Robert Wilson's most frequent musical collaborator (no, not Philip Glass, Tom Waits, or David Byrne), Louisiana-born violinist/composer Michael Galasso has not been much of a presence on recordings. Indeed High Lines follows his previous album, Scenes, by a good 23 years -- and from the evidence here, you can infer without any derogatory inplications why he has stayed away from the spotlight all that time. Galasso's forte is incidental music, background scores that mainly support other artistic idioms, often content to set just a single mood -- in other words, made to order for a Wilson production but not necessarily for a self-contained album. The CD unfolds like a soundtrack album, a series of mostly brief cues with a minimalist ethic underpinning the repetitions. At times, the album resembles a Glass soundtrack, but Galasso is not as predictable as Glass, freely roaming around various world cultures for inspiration, varying his bowing techniques to suit the mood, enlisting the versatile help of guitarist Terje Rypdal, percussionist Frank Colon, and bassist Marc Marder. The CD opens with a stunning mood piece, "Spheric," with percussive noises resembling rushing water. Rypdal contributes deliciously noisy distorted guitar to "The Other" and "Swan Pond"; the latter gets a funky berimbau beat going over a walking bass. "Chaconne" is the tail end of a much-longer work for solo violin, a simplified nod to one of Galasso's original influences, J.S. Bach. It's hard to predict how these mostly slight compositions will stand up to repeated listening, but they are beautifully recorded in the best ECM fashion. Richard S. Ginell
Tracklist :
1    Spheric 4'42
(Michael Galasso)
2    Caravanserai Day 1'16
(Michael Galasso)
3    Never More 0'40
(Michael Galasso)
4    The Other 6'07
(Michael Galasso)
5    Gothic Beach 3'11
(Michael Galasso)
6    Quarantine 2'44
(Michael Galasso)
7    Crossing Colors 3'28
(Michael Galasso)
8    Chaconne 3'14
(Michael Galasso)
9    Boreal 2'00
(Michael Galasso)
10    High Lines 1'49
(Michael Galasso)
11    Caravanserai Night 1'15
(Michael Galasso)
12    Swan Pond 2'20
(Michael Galasso)
13    Iranian Dream 2'10
(Michael Galasso)
14    Fog and After 6'04
(Michael Galasso)
15    Somnambulist 2'50
(Michael Galasso)
16    Gorge Green 5'21
(Michael Galasso)
Credits :
Michael Galasso   Violin
Terje Rypdal   Guitar
Frank Colón   Percussion
Marc Marder   Double Bass   

KARIN KROG | TERJE RYPDAL | VIGLEIK STORAAS | JOHN SURMAN — Nordic Quartet (1995) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

This ECM CD is only a mixed success. John Surman is the lead voice most of the way and his playing (particularly on baritone and bass clarinet) is typically atmospheric and emotional. However, singer Karin Krog (who is on around half of the songs) only makes an impression on the closing "Wild Bird"; otherwise her long tones sound out of place. Pianist Vigleik Storaas is mostly used in an accompanying role while guitarist Terje Rypdal's feedback-dominated tone is primarily utilized for color. The group never really meshes their disparate voices together and few of the spacey (and sometimes meandering) group originals other than "Wild Bird" are at all memorable. All of the principals have sounded better elsewhere. Scott Yanow

Tracklist  :

1 Traces 7:10
Written-By – Krog, Storaas
2 Unwritten Letter 3:46
Written-By – Surman, Krog
3 Offshore Piper 2:05
Written-By – Surman, Rypdal
4 Gone To The Dogs 3:58
Written-By – Surman
5 Double Tripper 6:16
Written-By – Surman, Rypdal
6 Ved Sørevatn 8:05
Written-By – Rypdal
7 Watching Shadows 5:18
Written-By – Surman, Krog
8 The Illusion 5:55
Written-By – Storaas
9 Wild Bird 7:30
Written-By – Surman, Krog
Credits :
Guitar – Terje Rypdal
Piano – Vigleik Storaas
Soprano Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Alto Clarinet, Bass Clarinet – John Surman
Voice – Karin Krog

TERJE RYPDAL / MIROSLAV VITOUS / JACK DeJOHNETTE - Terje Rypdal~Miroslav Vitous~Jack DeJohnette (1979-2008) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

An otherworldly soundscape of aching beauty, this album is a must-have for aficionados of any member of this trio. Rypdal's guitar is hauntingly reverbed and distant throughout, though occasionally on "Seasons" he becomes too fond of caterwauling guitar synth. But this is truly an effort of trio fusion, with ineffable pieces like "Den Forste Sne" ("The First Snow") appearing and melting away without any tangible solos or structure. From the opening cymbal strikes of "Sunrise," this album is marked by DeJohnette's best drumming on record; his cymbal sound, pushed to the front and recorded with mikes both above and below the cymbal's bell -- "because that's how the drummer hears it" -- is nothing short of revelatory. Vitous' bass steadies Rypdal's flights of fancy, while his subtle electric piano lines float above. These elements combine most powerfully in "Believer," which builds from atmospheric shimmers of electric piano into a whorl of bass and plaintive guitar set against the dry rasp of resonating cymbals. by Paul Collins
Tracklist:
1 Sunrise 8:26
Written-By – Rypdal
2 Den Forste Sne 6:35
Written-By – Rypdal
3 Will 8:01
Written-By – Vitous
4 Believer 6:23
Written-By – Vitous
5 Flight 5:25
Written-By – DeJohnette, Vitous, Rypdal
6 Seasons 7:22
Written-By – DeJohnette, Vitous, Rypdal
Credits:
Double Bass, Electric Piano – Miroslav Vitous
Drums – Jack DeJohnette
Guitar, Guitar Synthesizer, Organ – Terje Rypdal
Producer – Manfred Eicher

TERJE RYPDAL / MIROSLAV VITOUS / JACK DeJOHNETTE - To Be Continued (1981) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Essentially a continuation of Rypdal Vitous DeJohnette, this album somewhat lacks the atmospheric keyboards of its predecessor. It is nonetheless quite compelling, particularly in DeJohnette's propulsive drumming on the title track, and his phantasmic piano and voice on "Uncomposed Appendix." This album also features one of Rypdal's best-loved works, the gorgeously stark and stately "Topplue, Votter & Skjerf" -- Norwegian for "Hat, gloves, and scarf," an idiomatic phrase implying the onset of their long and cold winter. by Paul Collins
Tracklist:
1. Maya 6:17
Written-By – Rypdal
2. Mountain In The Clouds 4:57
Written-By – Vitous
3. Morning Lake 7:21
Written-By – Vitous
4. To Be Continued 9:11
Written-By – DeJohnette
5. This Morning 5:22
Written-By – DeJohnette, Vitous, Rypdal
6. Topplue, Votter & Skjerf 3:47
Written-By – Rypdal
7. Uncomposed Appendix 1:50
Credits:
Acoustic Bass, Electric Bass – Miroslav Vitous
Drums [Sonor Drums, Paiste Cymbals] – Jack DeJohnette
Electric Guitar [Electric Guitars] – Terje Rypdal
Flute – Terje Rypdal (tracks: 4)
Piano – Miroslav Vitous (tracks: 3)
Producer – Manfred Eicher
Voice – Jack DeJohnette (tracks: 7)

MICHAEL MANTLER — The Hapless Child and Other Inscrutable Stories (1976) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

A surprising step after his earlier work with the Jazz Composer's Orchestra and their juxtaposition of avant-garde soloists in a modern orchestral context, Mantler created a virtual prog rock album, setting Edward Gorey's Freudian/gothic texts to music that owes far more to Henry Cow than Cecil Taylor. Enlisting ex-Soft Machine drummer Robert Wyatt on vocals and Jan Garbarek alumnus Terje Rypdal for some soaring guitar work, he managed to create a very convincing, enjoyably literary recording with potentially large appeal. The song structures are fairly consistent and the melodies often catchy, alternating from somber dirges (quite appropriate to the text) to up-tempo rockers. Much of the success accrues to Wyatt, whose reedy, intelligent voice gives exactly the right ironic inflection to Gorey's eerie tales. When in the title track he lightly sings the opening line, "There was once a little girl named..." then drops into a minor mode for, "Charlotte Sophia," you know things don't bode well for the song's heroine. Indeed, all of the lyrics are compelling little stories and it's to Mantler's credit that his compositions couch and project them instead of competing for attention. The Hapless Child has assumed a bit of cult classic status as a one-off prog rock project and it largely deserves the rep, holding up reasonably well over time. Brian Olewnick 
Tracklist :
1 The Sinking Spell 5:10
Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
2 The Object-Lesson 5:00
Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
3 The Insect God 4:58
Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
4 The Doubtful Guest 4:47
Samuel Beckett / Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
5 The Remembered Visit 6:27
Samuel Beckett / Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
6 The Hapless Child 7:02
Vitti Gorey / Michael Mantler
Credits
Bass Guitar – Steve Swallow
Drums, Percussion – Jack DeJohnette
Guitar – Terje Rypdal
Music By – Michael Mantler
Piano, Clavinet, Synthesizer [String Synthesizer], Producer – Carla Bley
Vocals – Robert Wyatt
Voice [Additional Speaker] – Albert Caulder, Nick Mason
Voice [Speaker] – Alfreda Benge
Words By – Edward Gorey