Walt Dickerson Trio ‎– Serendipity

The Odeon Trio go for gold. Unlike either the Beaux Arts (Philips) or the Fontenay (Teldec), they use three CDs to include everything by Brahms that could possibly be called a piano trio, not forgetting the Op. 114 and Op. 40 wind trios, whose wind parts can well be rendered by strings. They decide, too, that the original 1853 version of the B major Trio is for them, rather than the revised version of 1889 which is more generally favoured.

After 15 years of waiting: Audio portraits of Oslo's tragic-heroes by Norway's least Nordic piano trio.The idea for the album came to Aarum after reading "Oslo originals" - a book about the fascinating residents from the Norwegian capital's history. Each track on the album, he decided, would paint a portrait of one of these personalities. Take "El Jucan", a tribute to Einar Olsen, who walked the streets as a fakir, swallowed swords, flames and glass and lay on a bed of nails. In an inspiring twist of serendipity, the recording studio happened to be in the immediate vicinity of a mental hospital. This set the mood perfectly, as many of the personalities captured on the album battled with alcoholism and deteriorating psychological health. The entire album, the first one by the current line-up of the trio after 15 years, was recorded in a single 1,5 hour short session. Thanks to this impressive achievement, the Anders Aarum trio are now originals as well. They, too, have now become part of the Oslo puzzle.

An album full of original compositions by the renowned pianist and composer Stefan Dickerson. These extraordinary ensemble of tracks clearly showcases the artist's amazing talent in all genres. His approach to creating soulfulness mixed with jazz is evidence of pure talent. Stefan allows his listeners a great justice by giving them a glimpse into his motivations and inspiration that will continue to keep music alive and relevant for years to come.