NKM004
Nakama
Grand Line
Artist: Nakama
Album title: Grand Line
Label: Nakama Records
Catalog number: NKM004LP / NKM004CD
Release: 23rd May 2016
Formats and pricing:
- LP from €12
- CD from €5
Shipping:
- From Norway to Norway
- From Slovenia to EU and rest of the world
Press
Form, at least in an improvised context, is usually either fixed, or totally free. When playing over a tune, there’s usually a set amount of bars which you repeat over and over again before you move on, or in the latter case the musicians make the form up as they go. On «Grand Line» the music is created from a form which behaves like something between these two — as something malleable, like a lump of clay which the performers can shape the way they see fit. The tracks on the album are built from two separate components: musical compositions and form compositions. The two combined offers a playground for improvisers who are not only concerned about finding new sounds, but also finding new ways. Founded on a fixed music material it is an approach which mixes arbitrariness with intention, and at the same time relying heavily on the creativity of the players involved. The sounding result might seem entropic, and at times leave both listeners and performers puzzled and perplexed. But the goal with this record has not been to restate what has already been defined or accepted, but to challenge recognizable patterns and contribute to the expansion and evolution of our musical consciousness and the multitude of possibilities in which musical events can order themselves.
Artist bio
Nakama is led by bass player Christian Meaas Svendsen. Improvisation is a central component in the band’s music, and the glue that unites a repertoire spanning from the neo romantic to the contemporary and conceptual. Amongst forms, layers, concepts and structures the players are given room for individual and collective escapades. The result is a mash-up of musical prose, poetry and academia in an incomprehensible yet accessible language.
Credits
Adrian Løseth Waade - violin
Ayumi Tanaka - piano
Christian Meaas Svendsen - double bass, compositions
Andreas Wildhagen - drums
Recording - Jan Erik Kongshaug
Mix and Master - Christian Obermayer
Cover art - Christian Meaas Svendsen
Cover design - Mikkel Cappelen Smith
Ayumi / Adrian / Christian / Andreas