Erlend Apneseth Trio - Det Andre Rommet (2016)

“Like poets, Apneseth, Hegg-Lunde and Meidell conveyed a compelling story with a spare vocabulary whose every syllable and every grammatical twist carried weight.”
Ian Patterson ~ allaboutjazz.com

“Blikkspor”, Hardanger fiddler Erlend Apneseth’s critically acclaimed debut album, presented fiddle tunes, Apneseth’s original compositions and improvisations side by side. On this, his follow-up album, he ventures further into an open landscape as part of a trio with extensive experience within improvisational music and rock.

Erlend Apneseth from Jølster is one of Norway’s foremost young fiddlers. He competes in the elite Category A in the National Contest for Traditional Music, and has received so many prizes and awards that dusting his mantelpiece has become nearly a full-time job. Erlend studied at the Ole Bull Academy in Voss, as well as with Håkon Høgemo.

Erlend is a performer who stands with both feet firmly planted in the Norwegian folk music tradition, but who at the same time improvises and searches for new modes of expression – all the while with the sounds of the Hardanger fiddle and folk music as his point of departure. He has collaborated with musicians from a variety of different genres, has been a soloist with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and has played with larger improvisational ensembles, folk- and jazz-based groups, overtone and joik singer Torgeir Vassvik, and poet Erlend O. Nødtvedt. In 2012 he received Grappa’s New Artist Award, and the following year he released his debut album, “Blikkspor”, produced by Arve Henriksen, which received glowing reviews in the Norwegian and international media. Drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde (Electric Eye, Building Instrument, José González) and guitarist Stephan Meidell (Cakewalk, Krachmacher) joined him on the last track of the album, and Erlend found this collaboration so inspiring that he asked them to form a trio with him. Meidell and Hegg-Lunde had worked together as an improvisational duo for several years before Erlend invited them to participate in his project. For the past few years Erlend, Stephan and Øyvind have played regularly, and have let their music develop slowly but surely. By the time they went into the studio they were full of ideas, songs, sketches and the joy of improvisation.

“Det andre rommet” is a lovely, inquisitive and adventurous album that takes the music in new and unexpected directions. It was recorded at Hallibakken Lydproduksjon, mixed by Randall Dunn at Avast in Seattle (Splashgirl, Earth, Thurston Moore) and mastered by Jørgen Træen at Lydgrotten in Bergen.

~ hubromusic.com