Solveig Slettahjell - Tarpan Seasons On this, her Norwegian Grammy nominated sixth album, Solveig's voice, mellow, sometimes breathy, sometimes almost crystalline in its clarity, rests within the folds of a warm, full-bodied music. It could almost feel like a cool stream flowing through a lush valley. Blues and gospel influences throw both light and shade on her beautifully measured performances on this collection of songs. From opening to close, it is not difficult to hear why Solveig is one of Norway's most lauded vocalists.
The music itself is an organic, breathing force, multi-textured, and often positioning elements that should feel misplaced in such a way as to feel like there could have been no other option. All the songs are new compositions by Solveig, Sjur Miljeteig and Per Oddvar Johansen, with some of the words based upon or taken directly from the American poet, Emily Dickinson.
The blue jazz overtones of the songs are underpinned by lo-fi electronica (with an unexpected feeling of necessity in ... Read More >>
Born in the city of Teboulba, Dhafer Youssef began his musical career in the Koranic school, absorbing the musical influences around him. He was a Muezzin before he saved the money to buy his first oud. With 19, he decided to move Vienna.
There he met the Austrian percussion player Gerhard Reiter who introduced him to Toni Burger and other members of the Vienna Jazz Scene.
The Jazz Club Porgy and Bess gave Dhafer a "carte blanche". For a whole year, he could do whatever he wanted once a month. On these occasions he invited Europe’s experimental-Jazz community, e.g. Iva Bittova, Linda Sherock, Tom Cora, Wolfgang Puschnig. He recorded his first CD Malak (enja) during this residency, featuring Nguyên Lé, Markus Stockhausen and Renaud Garcia-Fons among others, which established him as an internationally acclaimed artist.
Having lived in various European capitals and in Dakar, Senegal, Dhafer moved to New York in 2001 ... Read More >>
Latest Releases
Eivind Aarset - Live Extracts Taken from various venues, and with slight variations of personnel, Live Extracts retains the unity of feeling and purpose found on Aarset's studio work, yet is constructed from a completely different perspective. The dynamism of the live sets offers the listener a fresh perspective on familiar material, often sounding completely reimagined. However, the distinctive approach is clearly that of Eivind Aarset, albeit less distilled or refined: this is the raw ore of his imagination, often bold, en... Read More >>
Javid Afsari Rad - Afarinesh Jazzland is proud to present Afarinesh by santur player, Javid Afsari Rad.
Presenting a blend of Persian and Indian sensibilities, both composed and improvised, Javid's mastery of the santur and its unique crystalline clarity ring out solo expressions of captured moods.
For Western ears, the music at first sounds exotic, unfamiliar; but with a growing familiarity with the material, the full range of emotion and spirituality the music contains begin to flow forth. "I believe melodies stand ... Read More >>
Go' Natt - Various Artists Growing from the idea to have different singers who were mothers sing their own versions of a lullaby, "Go' Natt" has become a beautiful album of 12 songs in Norwegian from six of the finest singers working today.
Live Maria Roggen, Torun Eriksen, Beate S Lech, Solveig Slettahjell, Kari Bremnes and Silje Nergaard present two songs each, and the unity achieved is truly remarkable. Beginning with Beate S. Leche's "Min Engel", it is clear from the outset that this is something truly special.
... Read More >>
Knut Reiersrud - Gitar Released October 12th 2009
AVAILABLE TO BUY FROM JAZZLANDREC.COM NOW
"Knut Reiersrud plays the blues." This simple statement is a truism that rolls out of critical pens all too easily, and tends to mask the fact that Knut Reiersrud is a great deal more than your common-or-garden variety blues guitarist. His playing distinguishes itself not only by his deep understanding and command of the blues in all its facets, but in the range of emotion he manages to express within it. He incorporates ... Read More >>
Dwell Time - Håkon Kornstad Saxophonist Håkon Kornstad has enjoyed critical praise not only for his performance technique and emotional intelligence, but also for his willingness to experiment in a wide range of different expressive moods. Combining soundscapes and percussive beats and layers with a melodic sensibility, there’s always been a sense of awe when listening to his recordings. In his newest offering, Dwell Time ( Jazzland, 2009), we are again presented with his well-honed musicality, but this time the performanc... Read More >>
Vidar Johansen - Lost Animals One of Oslo's living legends of jazz, Saxophonist Vidar Johansen, releases his latest album with Jazzland!
Johansen, semi-hiding from time to time on a mountain farm in Lom, has produced a superb selection on "Lost Animals", displaying his full musical range and intensity, all of which has been gathered through years of experience within the Norwegian Jazz scene where he enjoys much recognition for his artistic credibility.
This, his first album sinced "Lopsided" on Curling Legs, c... Read More >>
Mari Boine - It Ain't Necessarily Evil Mari Boine, a Norwegian Sami born in Finnmark in 1956, has consistently created albums of enchanting beauty. Blending her extraordinary voice, the traditional music of her Sami heritage and more contemporary jazz, rock and folk sounds, the purity of her work has touched people across the globe. Yet her music is also capable of embracing modern electronica while retaining its haunting and organic qualities.
You'd be forgiven if you thought that this wonderfully natural sounding music should no... Read More >>
Mari Boine - Eight Seasons Her first album for Minneapolis-based Scandinavian music label Northside, Boine appears to be newly enthused, with fellow Norwegian and highly acclaimed keyboard and production innovator Bugge Wesseltoft on hand to create a new sound full of her passionate and otherworldly vocals that move into evocative arrangements tinged with jazz influence and electronic programming.
Avoiding the pitfalls of electro-acoustic cross over music Boine and Wesseltoft’s musicianship lifts this album well beyond... Read More >>
