Jonas H. Sjøvaag is a multi-talented artist and musician, working with everything from musical improvisational structures , pop music, photography, linographic and other prints, carving, digital artwork and editing, composing, drumming and web developement, to combinations of these or something completely different.
While listing David Hockney, Uta Barth, Tom Waits, Jan Garbarek, Jan Johansson and Hiroshi Sugimoto as major sources of inspiration, Sjøvaag has a unique touch and mode of expression, both in his visual work, as well as in his compositions and lyrics.
It takes a long time to gain acceptance for new idioms that are built on the sounds of previous generations. Some Norwegian musicians have been in the forefront of these developments, also internationally, and have created new approaches to improvisation: jazz where melody, harmony, improvisation, rhythm, and structure are based on other roots and other traditions than those of North America. My dream of recording an acoustic jazzalbum had matured through performing, composing, and releasing CDs since 1988.
Our latest (and only) album so far. Re-released by Million Records in 2012, with one additional song (And There You Were). This bundle contains 7 songs, and a PDF digital booklet.
Mattis Myrland & Jonas H. Sjøvaag are active musicians on the Norwegian music scene, both with a background from the State Academy of Music in Oslo. They collaborate with other musicians, such as Ingrid Olava, Eple Trio and Karl Seglem, amongst others, and have a broad spectrum of influences and interests.
Listen to this:
The Widening Sphere of Influence (2008) iTunesWimpSpotify
These three musicians are operating at the interface between jazz, chamber music and folk music. The tradition established by Swedish musician Jan Johansson has, perhaps, been the primary source of inspiration for their music. The trio has a distinctive idiom, refreshingly free of what have been described as “piano-trio clichés”. Barely a year-and-a-half after their debut recording they are releasing a new album, this one also featuring guest soloists. The music is just as beautiful as on the group’s previous recording, and now has a more expansive quality. The energy level is intense throughout, but volume is not necessarily the decisive parameter for energy. Eple Trio is living proof of this. The group’s music is appealingly melodious and outgoing, revealing a brave young trio that dares to follow its own path. This is in striking contrast to the rank and file of young Norwegian jazz musicians, who have been so obviously influenced and inspired by the North American high-energy jazz of the 1960s and 70s. This album offers new, stylistically confident compositions with a distinctive quality that we could, perhaps, start calling the “Eple sound”. The members of the trio have developed an unusual level of empathy in their interplay. Jan Erik Kongshaug has once again worked his sound magic at Rainbow Studios in Oslo.
Jonas H. Sjøvaag is a multi-talented artist and musician, working with everything from musical improvisational structures, pop music, photography, linographic and other prints, carving, digital artwork and editing, composing, drumming and web developement, to combinations of these or something completely different.
While listing David Hockney, Uta Barth, Tom Waits, Jan Garbarek, Jan Johansson and Hiroshi Sugimoto as major sources of inspiration, Sjøvaag has a unique touch and mode of expression, both in his visual work, as well as in his compositions and lyrics.
Eple trio is a Norwegian contemporary jazz trio playing their own original music. The group have been playing together for several years, slowly developing musical interaction and expanding the soundscape and possibilities of the modern trio.
These three musicians are operating at the interface between jazz, chamber music and folk music. The tradition established by Swedish musician Jan Johansson has, perhaps, been the primary inspiration for their music. The trio has an original and distinctive idiom, free of what have been described as “piano trio clichés”. The members of the trio themselves have composed all the music for their debut album, “Made This”. What they present here is beautiful, gentle music with a touch of something mystical and restrained. At the same time, their energy level is intense. Volume is not necessarily the decisive parameter for energy. Eple Trio is living proof of this. Their music is coherent, open, pleasingly melodious and appealing. This is a brave young trio that dares to go its own way, in sharp contrast with the rank and file of young Norwegian jazz musicians who have so obviously been influenced and inspired by the North American energy jazz of the 1960s and 70s. This album presents a collection of superb, stylistically varied, self-confident and highly original compositions. The members of the trio have been working together for many years, and have thus developed an unusual level of empathy in their interplay. Jan Erik Kongshaug of Rainbow Studios, who mixed “Made This”, has brought out the best in the recording made at Musikkloftet Studio.