Kristin Asbjornsen

In the spring of 2018, Ketil Bjornstad realized that it was only a scarce year before 50 years had passed since he debuted as a pianist with the Philharmonic in the University's Aula on January 10, 1969. On that day this year, the celebration of what is Bjornstad's year began. 2019 started with a nice new release of "Rainbow Sessions" in a limited 4cd-boxset. "The World I Used To Know" is recorded at one of the world's most famous studios - Abbey Road in London, more specifically in Studio Two where, among others, The Beatles recorded their material. The album is released not only on cd and double-vinyl, but also as a magnificent box consisting of five cd's. The box contains the recordings from Abbey Road, but also three cd's of music from his entire career with various guest vocalists, and one complete new album recorded at Rainbow Studio in Oslo.

The inside booklet for Norwegian pianist and composer Ketil Bjørnstad's Seafarer's Song begins with a small statement by the Spanish author Juan Jose Millas about the plight of the truly shipwrecked, the ruined in our postmodern times, where messages of distress don't come in bottles, but inside the real human bodies of refugees. It speaks volumes about the music included here. Bjørnstad has given us yet another album of the water to be sure, something he has done since the inception of his solo career for ECM, but he has done so in a completely different way. There is no jazz on the Seafarer's Song, and yes; that's a plus. Utilizing his long-standing band which includes trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer, guitarist Eivind Aarset, drummer Per Lindvall, bassist Bjorn Kjellemyr, and cellist Svante Henryson, Bjørnstad ups the ante by employing the brilliant if unconventional vocalist Kristin Asbjornsen…

Cool Norway seems to be the most efficient hothouse for new talents in Europe in recent years. Vocalist Solveig Slettahjell is by no means a new talent, but only now is her third solo disc, with her Slow Motion Quintet, being distributed outside of Norway. Slettahjell was a student of renowned Norwegian vocalist Sidsel Endresen, with whom she collaborated recently in Jon Balke's Batagraf ensemble (Statements, ECM, 2005). She recorded with the experimental all-female vocal quartet Kvitretten, with jazz singers Eldbjørg Raknes, Kristin Asbjörnsen and Tone Åse, and teaches jazz singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music.