Thomas Johansson – trumpet
Kristoffer Alberts – sax
Ola Høyer – double bass
Gard Nilssen – drums

Cortex is a norwegian jazzquartet, and their music is clearly inspired by the American avantgarde jazz of the 60s and 70s, with giants like Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman and John Zorn looming in the shadows.
At the same time there is something unmistakably Nordic and contemporary about the way the debutalbum Resection sounds, giving associations to people like Magnus Broo and Kenny Wheeler.
The quartet offers dynamic musicality and an effortless musical dialogue in a string-of-pearls of original songs, all written by Thomas Johansson, obviously an unusual compositional talent.
After the release of their debutalbum, Resection, the band has played on several jazzfestivals such as Nattjazz in Bergen, Molde Int. Jazz Festival and Dølajazz in Lillehammer as well as a tours in Norway, Europe and Japan. The record has received several great reviews as well as beeing played on Norwegian and international radio.
All members share a common background in jazz studies from Trondheim, and they´re active in a number of other constellations – for example Mathias Eick Quintet, Saka, Friends&Neighbors, All Included, AKODE and The Heat Death.

The band’s music is clearly inspired by the American avantgarde jazz of the 60s and 70s, with giants like Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman and John Zorn looming in the shadows.
At the same time there is something unmistakably Nordic and contemporary about the way Resection sounds, giving associations to people like Magnus Broo and Kenny Wheeler.
The young quartet offers dynamic musicality and an effortless musical dialogue in a string-of-pearls of original songs, all written by Thomas Johansson, obviously an unusual compositional talent.

All members share a common backgrounds in jazz studies in Trondheim, and they´re active in a number of other constellations – for example Bushman´s Revenge, Marianne Halmrast Quintet, Zanussi 5, Susanne Sundfør and Team Hegdal.

Available for preorders.

sPacemoNkey is the duo project of pianist Morten Qvenild and drummer Gard Nilssen. They enjoyed collaborating in Mathias Eick’s band, and quickly decided to try playing together as a duo.

During the past 10-15 years, Morten Qvenild has been one of the most creative, ground-breaking and innovative musicians in Norway. He has participated in bands including In the Country, Shining, Jaga Jazzist, Trinity, and Susanna and the Magical Orchestra. Gard Nilssen, on his part, is one of the most active and highly sought-after drummers in the business, having played with Bushman’s Revenge, Astro Sonic, Puma, the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and Susanne Sundfør’s band.

“Basically, I find the duo format extremely appealing, and have worked quite a bit together with singers. Working with a drummer gives me a wide scope and a lot of freedom to take the music in a number of different directions,” says Qvenild. And he is taking advantage of this freedom with a vengeance in The Karman Line. This is spacy, stimulating and lovely music, full of surprises and exploring new soundscapes.

sPacemoNkey’s debut album, The Karman Line, is entirely improvisational, and was recorded at Propeller Studio in Oslo. “We used the studio as a tool in the process of discovering what we could accomplish with the duo. A lot of trial and error. A lot of discussions about our direction. During the process a band suddenly crystallised,” says Qvenild. The album was later completed, produced and mixed at Duper Studio in Bergen together with Jørgen Træen.

Norwegian release 28.02.2014

The rocking synth trio Astro Sonic have focused on a broad sonic spectrum on their debut album "Come Closer and I"ll Tell You".
The music on the group"s first album is fearless, and most of the tunes are improvised. It evokes associations with experimental ambient, krautrock, synth impro and Bo Hansson"s instrumental music of the sixties. The atmosphere of the music moves effortlessly between the upper stratosphere and abandoned mines deep within mountain caves, from viscous planes of sound to explosive rhythmic drive.
The three members of the group have been collaborating for quite some time, but it was not until 2008 that they decided to establish Astro Sonic. Erlend Slettevoll"s (Grand General, The Core) synths really get the opportunity to shine in a soundscape that is at times whipped onwards by a powerful rhythm section comprised of Rune Nergaard (Marvel Machine) on bass and Gard Nilssen (Susanne Sundfør, Lord Kelvin) on drums, both of whom have been playing in the power trio Bushman"s Revenge for over 10 years.
The album was recorded in analogue in the course of three days at Svenska Grammofon Studio in Gothenburg, and was mixed by Jørgen Træen at Duper Studio.
Released in Norway 06.09.2013

Puma is Øystein Moen (synthesizers and electronics), Stian Westerhus (guitar and electronics) and Gard Nilssen (drums). Recorded and mixed by Jørgen Træen.”Half Nelson Courtship” is the third album and the first on Rune Grammofon from this young trio who musically started out as the younger cousins of Supersilent. The new album shows a group with a stronger identity, clearer focus, more mature and fully developed musical ideas and directions. It´s actually not so easy to compare them to anyone, but certain aspects of the 1973 period King Crimson concert improvisations wouldn´t be too far off the mark. But Puma is first and formeost a contemporary and progressive unit making their own path on the ever growing Norwegian experimental scene mixing improvistaion, jazz, electronics and free rock.

Bolage is proud to present our fourth release:
Puma Discotheque Bitpunching. Since the release of their debut album Isolationism last year, the band has been touring extensively. Playing live has payed off. As a second album, Discotheque Bitpunching is everything you could wish for: it’s sharper and more to the point than their debut, yet richer in colour and texture.

Stian Westerhus - guitars

Øystein Moen - keyboard

Gard Nilsen - drums

2008 Bolage

Puma’s music is fearless and dynamic with a strong melodic instinct. Their live performances are spectacular displays of creative beauty, full of energy and musical sincerity. Puma is improvised music, with a fresh, new sound. Puma won the prestigious JazzIntro award in 2006 as the most promising young
jazz group in Norway. They also represented Norway at Young Nordic Jazz Comets at Reykjavik Jazz Festival in Iceland in September 2006. In March 2007, Puma’s debut album Isolationism will be released on the new Norwegian label Bolage. The album was engineered and co-produced by Audun Kleive.

Puma´s members have also worked with the likes of Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken, Christian Wallumrød, Audun Kleive, Bugge Wesseltoft, Paal Nilssen-Love, Kjetil Møster and many more in other projects.

Stian Westerhus - guitars

Øystein Moen - keyboards

Gard Nilsen - drums

2007 Bolage