More praise for Norwegian artists

Next year looks set to be a good year for Norwegian music. It has started off pretty well already, with The Wire magazine praising Norwegian jazz and contemporary performers in its upcoming January issue.

	Listen to a 30 second clip of Maja Ratkje’s Dictaphone Jam
	Listen to more tracks or buy Maja Ratkje’s Voice album

	Listen to a 30 second clip of Scorch trio’s Säde
	Listen to more tracks or buy the Scorch Trio album

	Listen to a 30 second clip of Close Erase’s Dance this part 1
	Listen to more tracks or buy Close Erase’s Dance This album

20.12.2002 | By: Tomas Lauvland Pettersen

The Wire is held in high regard by those with an interest in improvised music, cutting-edge electronica, experimental contemporary music and other genres that push the development forward. Recommendations from this respected publication are noticed by an international audience, and favourable reviews are not an everyday occurrence for Norwegian artists.

It’s pleasing then to learn that several releases from respected Norwegian jazz and experimental performers are included in The Wire’s January issue.

Renowned trio Close Erase are nominated as twelfth best jazz release of 2002. Close Erase released their Dance This album on the Norwegian BP label in 2001 to a massive reception by the nation’s jazz reviewers. Following the record’s international release in 2002, Dance This was subjected to an extremely positive review in The Wire’s September issue. Close Erase is made up of keyboardist Christian Wallumrød, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen all highly competent graduates from the Jazz Conservatory in Trondheim and members of such influential and renowned bands as The Source, Atomic and Scorch Trio (to name but a few of the multitude of projects these highly active musicians are involved in).

Bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is also a member of Scorch Trio which comprises Finnish guitar master Raoul Björkenheim and the young Norwegian drummer icon Paal Nilssen-Love. Scorch Trio released their first self-titled album on renowned Norwegian label Rune Grammofon earlier this year to wide critical acclaim. The album was also given a very positive review in the Wire and the release was subsequently included at the magazine’s Top 50 of the year’s international jazz releases in the January issue.

Another Rune Grammofon artist to be praised in The Wire is the young Norwegian composer and performer Maja Ratkje. Her debut album Voice was released earlier this autumn, and the reception in Norway has been formidable so far. The album which sees Ratkje and Jazzkammer exploring her voice and various manipulations of it, is given a whole page of extremely positive review in The Wire’s January edition. MIC will return with more info as soon as we can get our hands on the next issue of The Wire.

Another longstanding Wire-favourite collective is Supersilent. This creatively super-charged ensemble will return with their new album titled 6 on January 20, 2003. Rune Grammofon’s releases are distributed world-wide through ECM.

Headlines: