Andreas Røysum Ensemble - Andreas Røysum Ensemble
Catalogue number: MOT7LP + MOT7CD
Release date: March 5th 2020

Andreas Røysum hereby introduces himself as leader of his own ensemble consisting of ten souls from the young Norwegian jazz scene. From the first attack we realize that we are dealing with a jazz record – playful bass lines, joyful melodies, avid outbursts, and lots of fun. It really is a lot of fun: inside the ensemble's walls of sound one can hear tablas, two double basses, a string quartet, a wind quartet and more – a luxurious listening experience for the adventurous.

Each side was recorded in one continuous take, and one can see each side as a journey in sound. The ensemble develops unity and camaraderie as well as showing off intricate chamber music within smaller ensembles. The melodies are sometimes full-bodied orchestrated, almost like a big band, but the groups brilliant individuals are given freedom as well. The drum kit and tabla tarang – a tabla setup that enables melodious playing – forms a rhytmical foundation that gets the feet trampling. Two quartets are included, with the halfway-Messiaensque titles «Quartet from the Beginning of Time» #1 and #2. These pieces stand out from the rest of the album in the way they are liberated from the melodious and pulse-based foundation that is the core of the rest of the tunes. However, the quartets are pointing in clear directions, just listen in when the rest of the ensemble re-enters after the wind quartet on side B – like someone opening the floodgates! There is a lot of collective effort (with a few solos along the way): In the good socialist spirit individual achievement comes second to the ensemble’s identity as a whole, while never being fettered by it.

Andreas Røysum is a visionary guy with a voice that is worth listening to. His thoughts on life, society and of course music are both informed and interesting. He has some interesting things to say about making music. For is it not a true miracle that human beings are able to create these cosmic vibrations?

Most of the time that I am not playing or listening to others play, I hear beautiful music in my own head. Melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and sounds are gifts. I feel lucky to have the opportunity to receive them and to further develop as a musician. This is the way the music on this record originated. Generally I have a pretty integrated experience of composition, playing music, and life in general; submission to too many rigid concepts will eventually burn out the light that is constantly giving. By basing my music on these gifts I feel like a medium in a precise point in history. It enables me to be an artist.

Lively music that leans on the jazz traditions of the last 50-60 years, Røysum?

I don't need to pretend to be anyone else. I don't need to deliberately mix different musical styles or lose myself in retro fetishism or imagine a hypothetical future in an attempt to catch the pulse of the zeitgeist. Because life lives, it pulsates. The spirit flows through the matter.

An ensemble with musicians who are roughly the same age, where everybody has played with each other different bands is a good point of departure when one wishes to bring light and warmth to open minds. When several people work together and pull in the same direction, magic can happen.

I have been so lucky that external circumstances has given me the opportunity to cultivate my gifts with fantastic friends, master navigators in the mystical spheres of sound. Now it is time to pass these gifts on, with hope that this in my ears warm and joyous vibrations also will make other peoples life brighter.

We thank each other for the gifts that surround us, and hope that this record will become a companion in happy times.

Details
Personel: Andreas Røysum, clarinet; Henriette Eilertsen, flute; Signe Emmeluth, alto saxofon; Marthe Lea, tenor saxofon; Hans Kjorstad, violin; Joel Ring, cello; John Andrew Wilhite-Hannisdal; double bass, Christian Meaas Svendsen, double bass; Sanskriti Shresta, tablas; Ivar Myrset Asheim, drums

Music composed by Andreas Hoem Røysum
Recorded and produced by Magnus Nergaard at Flerbruket – 20th of August 2019.
Mastered by Audun Strype at Strype Audio
Cover painting by Kenneth Lien, layout by Egil Kalman.