Eple Trio – Universal Cycle (2014/2020)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/96 kHz | Time – 49:56 minutes | 956 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Shipwreckords
Through a decade, this trio has developed a unique mode of interplay and improvisation, in the very grey area between written and improvised music. The inspirations stretches far beyond traditional jazz, which is audible through references to classical, folk and contemporary music. This results in melodic lines focusing on dynamic stretches and suggestive rhythm, where the interplay is always in focus.
The trio has already released three albums, and this is the fourth one available from October 1st, 2014. It features guest artists, namely guitarist Ivar Grydeland (Huntsville, Dans Les Arbres ++), and trumpet player Mathias Eick (ECM recording artist). Partially through their input, the mood of the record alternates between lyrical melodic lines presented over the intense backdrop of the trio, to improvisational pieces where the sounds interweave, creating a unique soundscape focusing on the exploration of musical possibilities.
Linear Notes: You start in the barren desert, and then you walk through the woods. Entering a small forest island in which there are no trees, only open space surrounding the watering hole where all animals come to drink. Then you pass that gleaming, in that particular forest, abandoning the direct sunlight, seeking refuge in the shades beneath a dense layer of vegetation.
In there it’s cooler, and when you look up you can sometimes see how the sun and the blue sky peeks through the greens. Birds are audible, you can hear how they sing, how they eat and how they die. Some are caught by predators in a swift and sudden carnivorous action, others are falling motionless to the ground. The latter provides energy for a different chain; one that attacks much slower but one that is much more thorough.
After the forest comes the mountain. A steep climb, one that has not been climbed before, and it rises in front of you; rocks, dirt and compost piled up and built over a million years, but you shall conquer it, starting by lifting your body on the strength of your lower extremities. It’s humanity and evolution that lifts your body over that first rock. You are part of a community, and this is how we are made.
Then you reach the top, and the sweat is dripping down your forehead, it trickles into your eyes and makes you blink. From there you see nothing, and you see everything. The sky is blue, and the sun is warm on your skin. You’re a conqueror, and you see what you have been granted through your effort. Descending from the mountain you see water from the great Ocean flowing with enormous force, grinding away the stones in its path. When you first set foot in it you feel an enormous joy that stems from how you know that you belong in all of your surroundings.
Tracklist:
1. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – Setting foot on another planet (07:15)
2. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – One Elephant (05:25)
3. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – Island Sunrise (04:53)
4. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – In our home, where we live (04:41)
5. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – First Sun (04:05)
6. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – Tipplers Insomnia (07:23)
7. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – And now many days have passed (05:16)
8. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – Morning Stillness, Crisp Air (06:07)
9. Jonas Sjøvaag, Andreas Ulvo & Sigurd Hole – On a road that never ends (04:47)
