Espen Eriksen

After the highly successful "Perfectly Unhappy" (2018) album with Andy Sheppard, the trio is back with a new album featuring seven brand new songs from the pianist. Captivating and lyrical, always melodic and often melancholic and uplifting at the same time, these are all real tunes.

After five successful studio albums in 12 years, here is their first live album, by popular demand we should add. A very popular international concert attraction on several continents, the trio have constantly been asked when they will release a concert recording. And here it finally is, an hour's worth of melodic, melancholy magic. Five of the seven tracks were recorded live in concert at Oslo´s Nasjonal Jazzscene in 2018 and 2020, one at a special one-off intimate concert at Propeller Music Division in Oslo in 2020 and one in Poznan, Poland, in 2021. Six of the seven tracks are extended versions of Eriksen originals from four of the studio albums, adding instrumental vividness as well as dramatic and moving elements to the event. The seventh is a splendid cover of Krzysztof Komeda´s iconic Rosemary´s Baby. Andy Sheppard is guesting on three of the tracks, and another welcome twist is that only one of these are from the “Perfectly Unhappy” album he did with the trio, while the version of the title track from that album is featured here without Andy Sheppard.

The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, or in the words of Andy: “I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016”. This led to the very popular and critically acclaimed Perfectly Unhappy album in 2018, and now we are proud to introduce As Good As It Gets, the quite brilliant follow-up. It´s fair to say that the new album finds the trio slightly more lively and sunny in parts, still highly melodic and lyrical, often with a typically Nordic melancholic signature (check the Grieg nod in album closer "Drifting Clouds"). Eriksen is a master of catchy tunes and when Sheppard adds his inimitable playing to the trio´s minimalistic approach, pure magic is created.

Espen Eriksen Trio was formed in 2007 and released their first album in 2010. Their music relies on highly melodic and lyrical instrumentals and a "less is more" approach and is often credited for its unique voice within today's jazz scene by the international press. The aptly named Perfectly Unhappy features eight new songs by the pianist, all written with this collaboration in mind. These are enchanting and lyrical tunes, often melancholic and uplifting at the same time and will surely speak to followers of both the trio and Sheppard and attract many new ones. With a career spanning over four decades, working together with the likes of George Russell and Gil Evans, Andy Sheppard is truly one of Europe's leading saxophonists. Lately, his main focus has been with his own quartet and the trio with living legends Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, both acts recording for ECM.

Rune Grammofon celebrates release number 100 with this quite excellent and suitable collection of tracks from 13 of their esteemed artists, old and new. When the label started to compile the album and look at possible track orders, they soon noticed the large number of quiet tracks they had received, making it closer in feel to a "real" album than a compilation, and by far the best compilation album they have done. Twelve tracks are exclusive to this release, including a track by up-and-coming Rune Grammofon artist Jenny Hval. As with previous compilations, Rune Grammofon has turned to song lyrics and poems for the title – this one is from William Butler Yeats' short but monumental poem "The Second Coming." Other artists include: Alog, The Low Frequency In Stereo, Ultralyd, Espen Eriksen Trio, In The Country, Bushman's Revenge, Hilde Marie Kjersem, Stian Westerhus, Maja Ratkje, Puma, Deathprod, and Supersilent.

Following in the footsteps of In The Country and Espen Eriksen Trio, Kjetil Mulelid Trio is the third piano trio to appear on Rune Grammofon. Although they can be placed in the same musical landscape, it´s also fair to say there are certain obvious differences. There is a solid dose of youthful playfulness and curiosity at work here, at the same time they show an assured maturity that belies their age (26, 26 and 29). The music is based on compositions by pianist Mulelid - inspired by everything from psalms to free jazz - but there is also room for collective improvisation. It can be energetic, rhythmically complex and harmonically rich, but also intimate and with a beautiful melody. They work purely with acoustic sounds and timbres and are constantly reaching for new ways to express themselves within these frames.

Pianist Ketil Bjornstad interprets poems by critically accliamed author Kjersti Annesdatter Skomsvold's collection "Litt trist matematikk" and performs them together with the vocalist Eva Bjerga Haugen. Transforming poetry and other writings into music is an important part of musician, composer and writer Ketil Bjornstad's work. Most well-known among his works are the interpretations of Harry Martinsson, Knut Hamsun, John Donne and Edvard Munch. Earlier this year he released the critically acclaimed album, "A Suite of Poems" with Anneli Drecker on ECM, where poems by Lars Saabye Christensen was the source of inspiration.