Vossabrygg

Terje Rypdals Vossabrygg is a journey of its own, it can and will take someone to another place and its a good one. He has quite the sideman in Palle Mikkelborg whom I have started delving into his work as well I recently bought Imagine with Kenneth Knudsen which Palle plays in,for me the trumpet with Palle is kind of like the bass to Jaco Pastorius and that is a compliment well deserving buy Vossabrygg and hear for yourself, I listen to it often and am just in awe a very good work by all artists involved, oh the coincidence with Imagine is the last track which I cant recall the name right now the gentleman playing bass kind of revisits a clip of Portrait of Tracy by Jaco and Palle has some shining moments to say the least cant wait to receive it so I can quit listening to the samples, I can not believe how deep jazz is and am glad I have become a fan of jazz what an endless treat!!!

Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal seems to exist in a musical universe of his own. While he has recorded dozens of great albums for ECM -- including a pair of lovely and underrated collaborations with Miroslav Vitous and Jack DeJohnette -- his passionate, yearning soundscapes have not always seemed grounded in other musical developments happening at the time, which is often a virtue (and one that is shared by several ECM artists). This album, however, has a recognizable reference point: Miles Davis' fierce, groundbreaking 1970 birth-of-fusion masterpiece "Bitches Brew." In paying homage to that album, Rypdal has succeeded in making a record that is both true to his own deeply personal muse and accessible to the new generation of jazz-lovers for whom "Bitches Brew" is the very pinnacle of hip. With gorgeous trumpet throughout by Palle Mikkelborg (who collaborated with Miles on his own album "Aura"), and electronics by Rypdal's son, Marius (who made extensive use of sampled sounds from his father's discography for this performance, recorded live in 2003), the album pays homage to the vibe of Miles' music while attaining a spiritual intensity and heat all its own. It's hard not to feel a frisson of delight when the first notes of Joe Zawinul's "Pharoah's Dance" ring out at the beginning of the opening track, "Ghostdancing." Terje's solos soar like an incandescent bird of fire above the churning band performances, complete with very fine contributions on Fender Rhodes piano and Hammond B-3 organ by Stale Storlokken and Bugge Wesseltoft, and a very fluid rhythm section. One of the high points of Rypdal's long career, this is a very fresh recording that pays tribute to the past while accelerating into the future.

when vossabrygg, which translates to "vossa brew," is on, it's an amazing thing. Rypdal has taken the textures of miles' bitches brew and made them his own-- his guitar is absolutely searing, as is palle mikkelborg's trumpet. the opening track, "ghostdancing," is alone worth the price of admission, but several times later during the record the band rypdal has assembled gets quite near the heights they reach so early on. the album is not without faults, however, and most are at the hands of terje's son, marius. his electronic compositions, which act as segues between the longer improvised sections, are hit or miss. when they work, such as on "incognito traveller," they inject a truly seamless yet contemporary vibe into this music which for the most part could have been recoded at any time in the last 30 years. when they misfire, however, as on "hidden chapter," the bass heavy head nodding beats paired with samples of terje's choral and orchestral work come off as a bit cheeseball-- more dance club electronica than the great experimental electronic music being made in europe right now. that said, when marius' role is more of a supporting one on some of the longer tracks, his presence is a positive one. overall, this is a great new release that sounds fresh (even though this music is three years old) and timeless at the same time. when it's on, it's as good as anything i've heard this year.

If he's referencing Miles' great 70s album, Bitches Brew (which I, personally, doubt), it's merely as a jumping-off point. There's so much post-Miles developmental stuff happening here that it almost seems anachronistic to reference that, admittedly, seminal disc, and if he's doing that, it's in a majorly postmodern way. First off, Palle Mikkelborg, the supposed Miles trumpet analog, seems anything but a Davis clone: he's definitely his own man here, spinning out his own decades-long delved fusion lines (often doubled with the leader's guitar figures), and carving out territories scarcely envisioned by the Dark Lord of the trumpet. Second, Bugge Wesseltof (electric piano and synthesizer) and Stale Storlokken (Hammond organ, electric piano, and synthesizer) have advanced far beyond Larry Young and Joe Zawinul both conceptually and technically. Third, Marius Rypdal (Terje's son), by means of electronics, turntables, and samples, has created a soundscape both more sophisticated and complex than could ever have been imagined or realized by Miles himself. Fourth, Bitches Brew, though perhaps ahead of its time in terms of its post-production techniques, sounds positively primitive next to this fully 21st-century-produced disc. Something of a departure for ECM (but then, hasn't Rypdal always been kind of an iconoclast?), but hugely evocative and a resounding success.

It's well-recorded, and with modern elements. And I like the first track very much, which pays strong homage to "Bitches Brew" (clearly this whole project is an attempt to recapture that record's vibe and instrumental style). But truth be told the music does thin out after that.

Difficile d'expliquer l'inexprimable sensation stratosphérique que je ressens à l'écoute de cet album qui vous emporte très haut et vous laisse en apesanteur avec le sublime et sussuré "quiet word". À de rares exceptions près tout est sublime jusque dans les transitions entre les microcosmes que constituent chaque titre, on pourrait ici parler de tableau sonore tellement cette musique vise plutôt l'évocation , la suggestion , elle cherche davantage à susciter les mélodies qu'à les nous les imposer: à plusieurs reprises on assiste à la création par petites touches d'un thème qui se construit, monte lentement en puissance jusqu'à un climax où il s'efface brutalement pour nous laisser avec son souvenir planant sur des bribes de mélodie éparses avant de repartir vers d'autres directions: le meilleur exemple en est représenté par l'avant dernier morceau , après une transition sublime à la fin du mystérieux passage du " télégraphe" (qui me rappelle le choc viscéral du message galactique codé du film "contact"), une inoubliable mélodie se tisse doucement entre l'admirable souffleur Palle Mikkelborg qui est l'astre rayonnant de cet album et les autres musiciens ,et nous aspire jusqu'à un sommet de plénitude qui s'efface aussitôt atteint ,en nous laissant ébahis parmi les lambeaux de son souvenir qui nous conduiront jusqu'à la scène finale dont la sobriété et le côté évanescent résument à la perfection l'esprit de cet album.La filiation avec l'album "bitches brew" de Miles Davis est pleinement légitimée par l'impression d'improvisation qui est donnée ,par la recherche de la mélodie par juxtaposition de fragments à priori hétéroclites et qui se révèlent cohérents.En toute logique c'est le trompettiste qui se trouve au centre de cet album et le Maestro Terje Rypdal reste le plus souvent dans la pénombre qu'il affectionne particulièrement , la pénombre éclatante des aurores boréales qui hantent sa musique. La photo d'illustration de l'album paraît énigmatique ,floutée,mais illustre parfaitement la musique incluse: elle évoque avec des couleurs chaudes et vibrantes un monde inconnu baignant dans une lumière blafarde que l'on ne discerne pas précisément et qui nous laisse l'imaginer.

Personnellement ce disque m'a déçu , beaucoup trop d'électronique qui gâche l'écoute. Toutefois c'est une appréciation personnelle qui n'engage que moi.