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![Eriksen, Espen Trio With Andy Sheppard: As Good As It Gets (Rune Grammofon) Eriksen, Espen Trio With Andy Sheppard: As Good As It Gets (Rune Grammofon)](https://www.teuthida.com/productImages/misc4/34134.jpg)
UK saxophonist Andy Sheppard joins again with pianist Espen Eriksen's Trio of drummer Andreas Bye and bassist Lars Tormod Jenset, for a lyrical set of seven richly melodic original compositions, the trio's 7th release together since 2010 and marking 16 years together as a group, evident from their confident communication and seemingly effortless interaction.
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Espen Eriksen-piano, compositions
Lars Tormod Jenset-bass
Andreas Bye-drums
Andy Sheppard-saxophone
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UPC: 7033662022335
Label: Rune Grammofon
Catalog ID: RCD 2233CD
Squidco Product Code: 34134
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: Norway
Packaging: Digipack - 3 panel
Recorded at Propeller Music Division, in Oslo, Norway, by Mike Hartung.
"The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, and 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." The common conclusion drawn in reviews of their first album Perfectly Unhappy was simply "more, please," and now Rune Grammofon is delighted to introduce As Good As It Gets, the quite brilliant follow-up.
The two album titles aptly indicate a subtle change in mood, and 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, magic is created.
Espen Eriksen Trio was formed in 2007 and released their debut album in 2010. As Good As It Gets is their seventh album, all on Rune Grammofon. Andreas Bye is one of Norway´s most requested drummers in jazz and pop and has played with Bugge Wesseltoft, John Scofield, Joshua Redman, Dhafer Yousef, Nils Petter Molvær, and many others. With a career spanning over four decades, working together with the likes of George Russell, Gil Evans, Carla Bley, Steve Swallow, and numerous others, Andy Sheppard is truly one of Europe's leading saxophonists. As a leader he has recorded for labels like Antilles, Verve, Blue Note and lately four albums for ECM."-Rune Grammofon
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Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Espen Eriksen "Espen Eriksen (piano) was born in Haugesund in 1974. He is best known today as leader of the Espen Eriksen Trio, which released its debut album on the renowned Rune Grammofon label last spring to rave reviews and favourable comparisons with the likes of Esbjørn Svensson and Tord Gustavsen. Eriksen contributed as pianist, songwriter and arranger on Christina Bjordal's international solo debut for Universal Music. His varied musical background ranges from playing the organ to the pop band Briskeby, and he has performed with such prestigious instrumentalists as Bendik Hofseth, Mats Eilertsen and Jarle Vespestad." ^ Hide Bio for Espen Eriksen • Show Bio for Lars Tormod Jenset "Lars Tormod Jenset (born 17th January 1978 in Midsund in Møre og Romsdal) is a Norwegian jazz bassist. After joining Molde High School and Viken Folkehøgskole , he studied from around 2000 for five years at the Rhythmic Conservatory of Music in Copenhagen. From 2007 he has lived in Oslo and worked as a freelance teacher and artist. He has played in several bands, such as Hot N Spicy (former Pillow) together with Bjarke Falgren and Svein Erik Martinsen. From 2007 he has been in the Oslo band The Union with Ola Welo (saxophon), Tomas Heggdal (piano), and Martin Wister (drums). He has played bass in Bendik Giske Kvintett (with Gunnar Halle, Simon Toldam, Erik Nylander), Light Airborne (with Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard, Christoffer Møller and Morten Lund), Espen Eriksen Trio (with Andreas Bye) and Rodent (with Haukur Grøndal, Jarkko Hakala and Helgi Sv. Helgason). There have been more album releases with the different bands." ^ Hide Bio for Lars Tormod Jenset • Show Bio for Andreas Bye "Andreas Bye is a Norwegian jazz drummer, born 1975. He is known for groupsAnders Aarum Trio, Bugge & Friends, Espen Eriksen Trio, Knut Reiersrud Band, Kompen Quintet, Øystein Sevåg Global House Band, Sigurd Køhn Quartet, The Rainbow Band" ^ Hide Bio for Andreas Bye • Show Bio for Andy Sheppard "An ECM recording artist, bandleader and composer, Andy Sheppard is one of Europe's leading saxophonists and one of a very few British musicians to have made a significant impact on the international jazz scene, playing and writing for settings from solo to big band and chamber orchestra. Sheppard has composed over 350 works that incorporate a strong and characteristic sense of lyricism alongside a very personal use of rhythms from Asia, Africa and South America. Sheppard took up the saxophone at 19, highly motivated after encountering the music of John Coltrane, and three weeks after getting his first instrument was playing in public with the Bristol-based quartet Sphere. After a period in Paris where he worked with groups including performance art band Urban Sax, he returned to the UK in the mid-80's recording the album "Andy Sheppard" for Antilles/Island, with Steve Swallow as producer, the beginning of a long musical association that continues to this day. Since then Sheppard has recorded for labels including Blue Note, Verve, Label Bleu and Provocateur. Sheppard has been invited to compose for large and small ensembles in the areas of jazz and contemporary classical music. His big band writing includes work with the renowned UMO Orchestra (Finland), the Bergen Big Band (Norway) - initially for a joint commission from Cheltenham and Vossa Festivals - Voice of the North and Jambone (UK). Most recently in 2012, Sheppard was commissioned to write a new Big Band Suite for the Bergen Big Band, this brand new work entitled Bump 5250 was performed during the prestigious NattJazz Festival (Norway) in 2013. He wrote music for a collaboration with the classical saxophonist John Harle, and composed View from the Pyramids, a concerto for saxophone and piano for the Bournemouth Sinfonietta, which premiered at the 1998 Salisbury Festival with Joanna MacGregor as piano soloist. Other significant commissions include a solo performance piece for saxophone and electronics from the Maison de la Culture in Amiens which subsequently turned into his Nocturnal Tourist CD; Nothing moved but the wind - a work for the Kintamarni Saxophone Quartet; Strange Episode - a piece for tape oboe and percussion for New Noise; the multi-disciplinary Cityscapes - a collaboration with Joanna McGregor et al for the City of London Festival; Glossolalia - a choral work with saxophone, guitar and percussion soloists commissioned by Bigger Sky and the Norfolk & Norwich Festival with premiere in Norwich Cathedral and new big band and vocal work for the northern youth big band Jambone with youth choir, which premiered at the Gateshead International festival in 2012. Curiously, Sheppard has been commissioned to write music to commemorate two feats of UK engineering. The first was a collaboration with renowned Northumbrian piper Kathryn Tickell to celebrate the opening of the andy3Gateshead Millennium Bridge. This landmark commission resulted in Music for a New Crossing, written for the Northen Sinfonia, pipes and saxophones, with premiere played live on the spectacular setting of the bridge itself. The second saw Andy commissioned by Brunel 200 to write a piece to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer of the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. For this work, entitled The Living Bridge, Andy composed a fanfare using prepared electronics incorporating the sounds of the bridge and utilizing the talents of 200 local saxophonists in homage to his early work subsequently formed the basis of Saxophone Massive - a series of large-scale celebratory performances performed in the UK and abroad by saxophone choirs made up of players of all ages and abilities that can be tailored to suit indoor or outdoor performance venues. Saxophone Massive has played all over Europe and as part of the BT River of Music, the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad programme supported by the National Lottery and Paul Hamlyn Foundation, in July 2012 there was a special version of saxophone Massive at Somerset House in London. The Man Who Had All the Luck which ran at the Young Vic; dance (his trio Inclassificable devised the music for the award winning dance piece Modern Living, choreographed by Jonathan Lunn); radio and TV. His TV credits include original music commissioned by BBC's Omnibus for Ice dances Torvill and Dean; the Oscar nominated Channel 4 film, Syrup directed by Paul Unwin; a documentary series about Peter Sellers.andy4 Sheppard has been described as a serial collaborator, playing recording and developing new music with artists as varied as Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos, Indian violinist L.Shankar, English folk musician Kathryn Tickell, contemporary classical composer-performers John Harle and Joanna MacGregor, singer songwriter John Martyn, and a myriad of leading jazz figures, including the rare hat-trick of three of the seminal composers in contemporary Jazz - Carla Bley, George Russell and the late Gil Evans. The first album for ECM with his own project Movements in Colour recorded in 2008 draws upon established and more recent relationships. The saxophonist plays regularly in duos with jazz guitarist John Parricelli and tabla player Kuljit Bhamra, and both are also members of his quartet in Dancing Man & Woman. It was while touring as a guest soloist with Ketil Bjørnstad's band that Sheppard eventually got to play with Eivind Aarset - "the perfect choice for the sound world that I was after." UK tours with Bjørnstad also brought Sheppard and Arild Andersen together, and while writing the music for Movements in Colour album, Sheppard reports that he was "hearing melodies on acoustic bass and knew that Arild's sound and lyricism would make them sing as well as provide essential energy." Sheppard's current performing priority is Andy Sheppard Quartet/Surrounded by Sea, his third ECM album is a strongly atmospheric recording. Extending the range of his widely-praised Trio Libero (ECM) project in 2012 with Michel Benita and Seb Rochford, Andy Sheppard adds Eivind Aarset (who made significant contributions to 2008's Movements In Colour) to the band. With Aarset's ambient drones and electronic textures as a backdrop, Sheppard and co seem to have even more space to explore. The music embraced includes new compositions, open improvisations, an Elvis Costello tune, and the Gaelic traditional ballad "Aoidh, Na Dean Cadal Idir"." ^ Hide Bio for Andy Sheppard
9/4/2024
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9/4/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
9/4/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
9/4/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
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Track Listing:
1. The Other Side Of Melancholy 4:37
2. Endless 4:32
3. As Good As It Gets 6:27
4. Sticks And Stones 4:01
5. Pressure 7:13
6. The American 5:34
7. Drifting Clouds 6:49
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Improvised Music
Jazz
Free Improvisation
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Quartet Recordings
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
New in Improvised Music
Jazz & Improvisation Based on Compositions
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Rune Grammofon.
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