Ketil Bjørnstad Images (2015)

This release, Images, is part of a twin set of the works of Ketil Bjornstad. The sister album, Shimmering, is being released simultaneously, and they will also be released as a double set. Both albums were recorded by Ketil Bjornstad himself, on the same piano, but two years apart in two different studios. Solo piano holds an important place in the compositional work of Bjornstad. His piano albums often morph into an improvised recital. Some parts of the album will have completely improvised segments, and some will have musical fragments that have a profound meaning for Bjornstad. Bjornstad describes “Images” as intimate. “I wanted to avoid many of the percussive elements that are always a part of my concerts. In that way, all of the remarkable overtones of this instrument became very powerful and prominent.”

This release, Shimmering, is part of a twin set of the works of Ketil Bjornstad. The sister album, Images, is being released simultaneously, and they will also be released as a double set. Both albums were recorded by Ketil Bjornstad himself, on the same piano, but two years apart in two different studios. Solo piano holds an important place in the compositional work of Bjornstad. His piano albums often morph into an improvised recital. Some parts of the album will have completely improvised segments, and some will have musical fragments that have a profound meaning for Bjornstad. Shimmering consists of a concert which was held in the studio with a small audience of 40 people. Bjornstad states that the presence of the audience, as well as the timing of the recording session, had a great impact on the result.

The half-Finnish Sinikka sets "The half-finished heaven" - and other verse by Tomas Tranströmer - on her fourth album for ECM. “Despondency breaks off its course / Anguish breaks off its course / The vulture breaks off its flight. / The eager light streams out …” Such vivid images establish a tone for what is primarily an instrumental album this time, with a striking blend of sound-colours in music written by Langeland.