TERJE RYPDAL Schallplatten & CDs

Review: Elephant9, renowned for their electrifying live performances, continues to impress with their upcoming double live album, Catching Fire, recorded during a remarkable 2017 concert in Oslo to celebrate Terje Rypdal's 70th birthday. This release, available on double vinyl through Rune Grammofon, adds to the band's impressive discography, which includes multiple studio albums and live recordings. Catching Fire shares a visceral energy reminiscent of classic live albums from Mahavishnu Orchestra, ELP, and King Crimson, combining moments of intense improvisation with serene interludes. The 22-minute opening track showcases Rypdal's distinctive, glacier-like melodic lines, demonstrating his mastery and unique approach. His synergy with Stale Storlokken, who has supported him for nearly 30 years, creates an inseparable musical dialogue, while the rhythm section of Torstein Lofthus and Nikolai Haengsle ensures a solid, dynamic foundation. With its careful mix aiming to capture the live concert experience, Catching Fire is poised to be a highlight for fans. The world of Norwegian jazz prog never sounded better.

Review: A singular force in European jazz, Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal emerged from Oslo's late-60s underground, swapping out psychedelic rock theatrics for a more searching, cinematic mode of improvisation. This early work catches him mid-morph, just 21 and already pulling away from the fuzz of his band The Dream to chase a colder, more expressive language. 'Dead Man's Tale' sets the toneigritty, restless, stretched to its limitsiwhile 'Wes' offers a moment of reverence in its loose, lyrical swing. There's a quiet narrative elegance to 'Winter Serenade', its three-part structure marking snowfall, storm and thaw, and 'Bleak House' and 'Sonority' lean darker, flirting with the avant-garde. Closer 'A Feeling Of Harmony' tilts things back toward resolution, leaving behind a kind of luminous melancholy that points forward to his landmark ECM work.