Ketil Bjornstad: Early Piano Music - Limited Edition [Vinyl 3LP]

Piano Jazz / Nordic Jazz
premiera polska: 2019-02-21
kontynent: Europa
kraj: Norwegia
opakowanie: Box Setowe etui
opis:
multikulti.com - ocena * * * * 1/2:
Wydawnictwo "Early Piano Music" zawiera dwa dwa albumy, pochodzące z okresu początku kariery norweskiego kompozytora, pianisty - Ketila Bjornstada. "Preludes" nagrany został we wrześniu 1984 w Rainbow i Rosenborg Studios w Oslo, "Pianology" z kolei w 1987 w Rainbow Studio w Oslo.
Muzyka zawarta na obu płytach, bardzo impresjonistyczna w charakterze, łączy w sobie idiom jazzowy i klasyczny.
Bjornstad buduje napięcie w sposób klarowny i konsekwentny, jego kompozycje pozostawiają wiele miejsca na improwizację, a możliwości wykonawcze ma ogromne, słychać to na późniejszych ECM-owskich nagraniach jak "Water Stories", "The River", czy na obu częściach "The Sea".
Jego muzyka na fortepian solo jest dość prosta, ale nigdy nie prostacka, zgodnie z powiedzeniem, że w prostocie kryje się prawdziwa głębia.
Jest to muzyka niezwykle narracyjna, poetycka, utrzymana w impresjonistycznym nastroju, Bjornstad wykonuje ją lekko, z urzekającą czystością dźwięku o jedwabistej barwie.
Nie zawsze da się spełnić te marzenia o wędrówce, jednak dzięki tej płycie możemy udać się w ożywiającą duchową pielgrzymkę, która wyrwie nas z monotonii dnia powszedniego.
autor: Mateusz Krępski
Copyright © 1996-2017 Multikulti Project. All rights reserved

Editor's info:
These two discs albums are from the middle period of Ketil Bjørnstads career, and were recorded in 1984 and 1987. The music evokes imagery, and like so much of Bjørnstads music it straddles the border between classical and jazz. All the music on the records has been composed, but there is plenty of space for improvisation.

In the 1970s and 80s Ketil Bjørnstad enjoyed considerable success with several large-scale, ambitious recording projects for the Norwegian market, including Leve Patagonia, Tidevann and Aniara. His collaboration with Manfred Eicher and ECM, which would bring his music to a large, international audience, did not begin until 1993 with the album Water Stories.

The 24 compositions in total that constitute Preludes 1 & 2 were written by Bjørnstad in 1984. They were first released on two LPs by the Norwegian underground label Uniton, which is most renowned for its releases with Holy Toy, Conrad Schnitzler, Fra Lippo Lippi and Harold Budd. Preludes 1 & 2 were later released as a CD set on Bjørnstads own label, Hermitage, and the Japanese label September, in 1993. Pianology was first released by the Norwegian label Hete Blikk in 1987, and re-issued on Hermitage and September in 1994.

Liner notes by Ketil Bjørnstad in the booklet insert.

All About Jazz- ocena * * * *:
For a label that's been instrumental in reinventing the concept of solo piano performance, it's surprising that ECM has never released a recital from Ketil Bjørnstad. Instead, they've provided a forum for the Norwegian neo-classicist to experiment in contexts ranging from the duos of Life in Leipzig Night Song to the trio of Remembrance, and the expansive sextet on the forthcoming Antonioni Project, recorded in performance at Molde Jazz 2010. But long before he began achieving international prominence with ECM, starting with 1993's Water Stories, Bjørnstad had established a name for himself at home, with albums dating back to Apnig (Philips, 1973), novels including Nattsvermere (1974), and poetry collections like Alene out (1972).

But it wasn't until the mid-1980s that the pianist decided to pare back the ambitious productions of his early recordings and, as he states in the liners to Early Piano Music, rediscover "the pleasure of exploring the grand piano." Recorded in two sessions at Oslo's Rainbow Studio, known for its many ECM recordings, and last available in reissues on the Hermitage label as Preludes (1993) and Pianology (1994), Early Piano Music thankfully returns both sets to print, providing a window into the pianist's early distillations, bringing the music to its simplest, most direct essence. It's also a chance to hear germinal versions of music that would ultimately appear on his breakthrough 1995 ECM recording, The Sea.

If ever there was a set of music that represented a love song to the beauty, subtle nuances and orchestral grandeur of the grand piano, it's Early Piano Music. The 21 preludes on the first disc find Bjørnstad at his reductionist best: simple songs, on the surface, but imbued with a depth not unlike Erik Satie, who seems to be a direct source for the gentle waltz of "Prelude 1," though the French composer never imbued his music with some of the blue notes Bjørnstad does. Bjørnstad's greatest strength is his commitment to letting simple melodies speak for themselves, playing more with delicate phrasing than overt embellishment. With only two preludes in this 1984 recording breaking five minutes, these miniatures are effectively self-contained, readymade grist for larger interpretation, except that in keeping with such an unadorned approach, Bjørnstad knows a simple truth: the core of any good song must be able to stand on its own, as these do.

Three of the tracks on the second disc, recorded in 1987, are considerably longer and reflect an evolving approach. "Pianology 1" seems based around a simple left-hand vamp, until Bjørnstad reveals its melancholy, singsong form nearly three minutes in. Briefer exercises, like "Pianology 3" and "4" stay closer to form, and hearing these tunes nearly thirty years later, if Brian Eno's brother hadn't heard Bjørnstad when he recorded Voices (EG, 1985) and Between Tides (Opal, 1986), then it's clearly a case of magical synchronicity.

Bjørnstad has since expanded this more minimalist idiom, giving it a stronger improvisational quotient. But for 110 minutes of calming, meditative music filled with simple but unfailingly memorable melodies, Hubro's decision to bring Bjørnstad's lovely Early Piano Music back into print is a most welcome one.
By JOHN KELMAN

muzycy:
Ketil Bjornstad: piano solo

utwory:
1. Prelude 1 04:51
2. Prelude 2 02:49
3. Prelude 3 03:09
4. Prelude 4 04:21
5. Prelude 5 04:08
6. Prelude 6 02:39
7. Prelude 7 04:59
8. Prelude 8 03:29
9. Prelude 9 02:49
10. Prelude 11 04:45
11. Prelude 12 03:12
12. Prelude 13 06:38
13. Prelude 15 04:10
14. Prelude 16 03:39
15. Prelude 17 03:07
16. Prelude 18 02:30
17. Prelude 19 03:30
18. Prelude 20 05:13
19. Prelude 21 04:55
20. Pianology 1 09:27
21. Pianology 2 07:35
22. Pianology 3 02:33
23. Pianology 4 02:38
24. Pianology 5 04:36
25. Pianology 6 02:28
26. Pianology 7 07:09
27. Pianology 8 01:52

total time - 01:53:11
wydano: Feb 21, 2019 (2017)
nagrano: "Preludes" Recorded at Rainbow and Rosenborg Studios, Oslo, on Steinway Grand
"Pianology" Digitally recorded and mixed at Rainbow Studio, Oslo, Norway, 1987

more info: www.hubromusic.com