Reference Jazz

While the Norwegian jazz scene has been pursuing its own course for decades, the period of 1996-1997 represented a significant watershed, a milestone where an entirely new kind of music emerged, linked to jazz but distanced considerably—some might say completely, but they'd be mistaken—from its roots in the American tradition. Three seminal and groundbreaking albums were released within a year of each other: trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær's Khmer (ECM, 1997); noise improv group Supersilent's 1- 3 (Rune Grammofon, 1997); and, beating the others by a year, keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft's aptly titled New Conception of Jazz (Jazzland, 1996). All three explored the integration of electronics, disparate cultural references, programming, turntables and—especially in the case of Supersilent, the most avant-garde of the three— noise, to create aural landscapes that were innovative, otherworldly and refreshingly new.

Jazz guitar is certainly not the easiest style of music to learn how to play, but if you’re already a rock or blues player then you already know more about playing jazz guitar than you might think you do. Jazz (like rock) is rooted in the blues. Understanding the common threads between the styles is the key to making the transition to jazz much easier and quicker. David Becker’s Transitions To Jazz identifies those common threads and shows you how to tweak what you already know into versatile jazz applications, vocabulary and dialects.

Sampler with works by Mozart, Carter, Vivaldi, Schoenberg, Haydn, Ives plus many more great artists and recordings. 19 tracks from the remarkable 2L catalog, and each varies greatly in character and sound design. Each tracks’ only common element is that its sound seems absolutely perfect for the music it conveys.
Two of the albums presented in this compilation is nominated for the GRAMMY Award 'Best Surround Sound Album'. Discover what the unique Nordic Sound is all about!