Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Wako - Urolige sinn (ØRA FONOGRAM August 31, 2018)

Wako will release their third album 31st of August 2018. A live  album recorded in the legendary Norwegian studio, Athletic  Sound. The band explores the possibilities for the quartet, and as  a listener you will always get a surprise for each listening.  Wako  has through the last years gone a new direction inspired by  improvisation and textures, mixed with simple but well done  compositions and ideas, and they play this mix in a way Øra is  very proud to represent.
Walco © Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard

About their release​: "Urolige sinn" – the new album from Wako – is  equal parts atmosphere and energy. Smoky moods envelop  runaway train rhythms, while the contemplative can seem like a  mask for a chaos ready to erupt at any second. This is a series of  dramaturgical tone poems, triple-distilled concepts, their purity  and brevity carrying only the ​essential sounds – but you shouldn't  take this as meaning "minimalism": here it means intense  concentration, perfect focus. There is a build and release of  tension, occasional hints of a threatened dissonance in the midst of melody, or glimpses of golden harmony  emerging from chattering agitation. There are technicolour highways through chiaroscuro dreamscapes.  There is what could easily be the incidental music for an urban hallucination of a heated conversation  between Pharoah Sanders and Man Ray, or Erik Satie antagonized by Friedrich Nietzsche. Traces of joy mix  with stains of sorrow, the everyday life intertwines with sinuous and wandering reveries.

This is realism walking  in expressionist shoes along a well-paved path. That path was created by Wako, both as a collective and as  individuals. Where similar groups would regard a "jazz composition" as merely a framework for an extended  solo (or three), Wako operate as a unified musical consciousness, thinking, dreaming, reacting and planning  together. While pianist Kjetil André Mulelid and saxophonist Martin Myhre Olsen each take individual composer  credits on several tracks, the group coherence and synergy means that bassist Bárður Reinert Poulsen and  drummer Simon Olderskog Albertsen are integral to the final delivery of the music. The Wako philosophy is  one of "music first"; "Urolige sinn" is that philosophy made flesh. 

Walco © Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard

About Wako​:
Coming from the vanguard of the New Wave of Nordic Jazz, Wako are one of the most dynamic  and innovative groups on the scene. Touring extensively since 2015, they have honed their stagecraft and  performances, garnering a solid fanbase and critical acclaim along the way.

Described as having "​buoyancy and originality" by Terje Mosnes (​Jazz i Norge - Norway), as possessing "​a very personal and distinctive sound" (Mike Collin, ​London Jazz News - UK), and as creating music that "​would melt even the blackest heart" (​Bird is  the Worm – USA), Wako have brought their ever-evolving musicianship and creativity to impressive live  renditions of their work across Europe, including collaborative performances with Oslo Strings and with  Norwegian trumpeter ​ne plus ultra, Arve Henriksen. The scope of their musical reach is always finely attuned  in equal measures to audience, environment and source material, meaning not only is each concert  superlative, but also a unique experience. In short, Wako are one of the most impressive young live acts today,  signalling a healthy future for jazz in Norway and beyond.    Individually, the members are part of different bands and projects, such as Hegge (Norwegian grammy award winner 2017), Megalodon Collective (Norwegian grammy nominee 2016,Espen Berg trio (NTNU  ambassadors 2016), Kjetil Mulelid Trio, Kjemilie and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra with Chick Corea.

Wako is​:

Production​:
Produced and arranged by Wako
Recorded by Dag Erik Johansen on the 2​nd​ and 3​rd​ of October 2017, at Athletic Sound, Norway
Mixed and mastered by Karl Klaseie at Greener Mastering
Cover photo by Anders Beer Wilse: “Skavlet føre” 1909
Cover design by Christian Meaas Svendsen

Tracklist​:
1. Jernvilje
2. Skavlet føre
3. Skumring og det som hører til
4. Den endeløse planen
5. Du gråter aldri
6. Elisabeths vise
7. Revelje
8. Snart blir jeg far
9. En liten halvtime senere
10. Skogens uklare omriss
11. Svovelpredikant
12. De som viste oss rundt
13. Langt, langt der nede

All compositions by Wako, except:
2, 9, 13 by Kjetil André Mulelid
6, 7, 8 by Martin Myhre Olsen