31. Something to look back at and something to look forward to

Last Sunday we opened the BYJAZZ fall and winter season at the Culture House in Oslo with a concert by Norwegian pianist and composer, Maren Selvaag. On stage were also the wonderful Danish bass player, Jesper Bodilsen, and the Norwegian drummer and BYJAZZ founder, Anders Thorén. The trio played music from Selvaag’s album Close to Shore. Even though they had never shared stage before, the friendliness and playful dynamics between the three was so apparent that I think I speak for everyone in the audience when I say that we’ll be more than happy to see them on the same stage again.

On September 9th we continue the BYJAZZ fall season with a concert by another piano trio. Ayumi Tanaka Trio is formed by musical interaction between three different strong musical personalities. With her she has Christian Meaas Svendsen on bass and Per Oddvar Johansen on drums. The trio tries to find possibilities between composition and improvisation and a new approach within the piano-trio format. The music is mainly composed by Ayumi Tanaka, and it ranges from small structured elements using tiny ideas, chord sequences, small lines and patterns to big scale composition, inspired by a variety of musical styles and genres. The composed material is explored through improvisation using both the restricted framework and the wide-open form, blending between individual- and interactive playing, expanding into both spacious and intense passages of sound, the result always being a strong, creative and synergetic energy.

We look forward to another concert at the Culture House in Oslo next Sunday!