{"title":"Ketil Bjornstad","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"epigraphs","title":"Epigraphs","description":"\u003cp\u003eBj?rnstad\/Darling's first duet album 'The River' was one of the runaway successes of ECM's 1997 programme, described by the Sydney Morning Herald as \"An unforgettable listening experience.\" On 'Epigraphs', the frame of reference for the Norwegian pianist and the American cellist is the music of the Renaissance. Darling and Bj?rnstad play arrangements of pieces by William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Guillaume Dufay, and Gregor Aichinger as well as compositions of their own, inspired by these old masters. The result is an extremely attractive, gentle, often slowly-moving music of great clarity.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRecorded 1998  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePersonnel: Ketil Bj?rnstad (piano), David Darling (cello)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50388082983243,"sku":"2017602","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_117e5582_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726339530"},{"product_id":"between-hotels-and-time","title":"Between Hotels and Time","description":"\u003cp\u003eJazz pianist Ketil Bjørnstad, vocalist Anneli Drecker and writer Lars Saabye Christensen used their friendship as a base when creating the new jazz album\u003ci\u003e,\u003c\/i\u003e and the result is a timeless and divine album with 18 original songs The powerful poetry of Lars Saabye Christensen, sung and delivered by the beautiful voice of Anneli Drecker and accompaniment by the expressive piano tones of Ketil Bjørnstad. The record consists of slow and atmospheric songs both blue, sore and heartfelt but also tasteful, nifty and rhythmic tunes like in songs like \"The Pawn Shop Band\" and \"Theif\". The more dark and melancholic side of the album shines through in tracks like \"The Finder\" and \"Serbelloni Memories\". The musical landscape is at times dreamy and mellow, making the listener become almost nostalgic. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnneli Drecker is known to most for being the singer in the electronic dream pop band Bel Canto. On this record, it´s a different kind of musical expression, with only clean piano as accompaniment. Drecker's voice is full of contrast – sometimes light and airing, and sometimes grounded and warm. The Norwegian writer and poet Lars Saabye Christensen has been acknowledged both in Norway and abroad for his texts, but he also has a strong passion for music and has been a musical lyricist for many years.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grappa","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50408879882571,"sku":"2005035","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/R-24996067-1667145088-4788_9c30cc81_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726608112"},{"product_id":"nightwalker","title":"Nightwalker","description":"\u003cp\u003eNightwalker is a suite inspired by Ketil Bjornstads own experiences as a 'nightwalker' \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e..in nature, in the streets of Oslo or in a musical landscape. In Ketil's own words:\" A nightwalker can hold an entire life in his head while he is walking. This suite is based on both dreams and experiences, states of mind we all have, with their sudden shifts, and often with a dramatic arc we don't understand, because it is only afterwards that we can grasp what happened and why things turned out as they did. The entire suite was written in the course of the winter, spring and summer of 2022, that dark year that none of us had envisaged. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCD2 contains the Nightwalker suite played on the classic Fender Rhodes piano, sent throughan equally classic Leslie thatcreatesthis almost ghostly intensity and a unique atmosphere which give the suite a totally different vibe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Grappa","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50443240472907,"sku":"2049493","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Nightwalker_f2e93c11_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727011136"},{"product_id":"la-notte","title":"La notte","description":"\u003cp\u003eCommissioned by the Molde International Jazz Festival and recorded live at the Norwegian festival in 2010, La notte is a salute to Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, whom Ketil Bj?rnstad counts amongst his formative influences. Playing alongside the pianist in this special band are prominent musicians from ECM's roster: fellow Norwegians Arild Andersen and Eivind Aarset on double bass and guitars\/electronics respectively, British saxophonist Andy Sheppard, German cellist Anja Lechner, and Denmark's \"Queen of Percussion\" Marilyn Mazur.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBj?rnstad says: \"At the same time that I discovered what jazz could be, after listening to Miles Davis' In A Silent Way, I also saw the films by Godard, Bresson and Antonioni. Perhaps it was the slow, rhythmic authority in the films by Michelangelo Antonioni that made me think of music... As long as visual art creates music in our minds, and music creates pictures and visual expressions with the same intensity, the two are deeply and profoundly interdependent\".\u003c\/p\u003e   \u003cp\u003eThis album, then, can be considered \"the soundtrack to an inner film\", in which Antonioni's images and atmospheres are translated and transformed through personal moods and memories. For the Molde concert, Bj?rnstad convened an extraordinary group of musicians, old and new friends closely associated with ECM. The concert was rapturously received by the media, and described as an \"absolutely stunning performance\" by All About Jazz.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eKetil Bj?rnstad, pianist, composer, improviser... and also novelist, poet and essayist, has been described by The Guardian as \"a cultural prodigy\". Prolific in his multi-discipline activities, he has released more than 50 albums and published 40 books. Bj?rnstad has been an ECM recording artist since 1993 when his Water Stories album was issued.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003ePersonnel: Ketil Bj?rnstad (piano), Andy Sheppard (tenor and soprano saxophones), Anja Lechner (cello), Eivind Aarset (guitars, electronics), Arild Andersen (double bass), Marilyn Mazur (percussion, drums)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50464615235915,"sku":"2017795","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_bb347d1c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727277411"},{"product_id":"a-passion-for-john-donne","title":"A Passion for John Donne","description":"\u003cp\u003eKetil Bj?rnstad's passion for the English metaphysical poet John Donne (1572-1631) is a lifelong affair. The Norwegian pianist-composer's settings of Donne's verse have led to recordings including The Shadow, Grace, the ECM album The Light, and now this important disc.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"After working with the texts of John Donne for more than twenty years, I still find new approaches to understanding what he wrote and I find music throughout. It is in the language, in the rhythm, in the silence between the sentences - a passionate quest for meaning and reconciliation. Donne's dramatic life is reflected in the texts and everywhere in them you will find the passion, melodies and sounds\".\u003c\/p\u003e   \u003cp\u003eBj?rnstad wrote 'A Passion for John Donne' for the Oslo International Church Festival in the winter of 2011\/2012 and the premiere performance - documented here - was at the Sofienberg Kirke in Oslo in March 2012. The Oslo Chamber Choir is sensitively directed by H?kon Daniel Nystedt, and passion is personified in the unique performance of H?kon Kornstad, who makes his ECM debut, as both tenor saxophonist and classical tenor singer.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eOver the years, Bj?rnstad has been a highly prolific creator, with more than 50 albums and 40 books to his name. The Oslo-born pianist, composer, improviser, novelist, poet and essayist, described by The Guardian as \"a cultural prodigy\", has been an ECM recording artist since 1993, when his 'Water Stories' album was issued. Other ECM recordings include 'The Sea', 'The River', 'The Sea II', 'Epigraphs', 'Life In Leipzig', 'The Light', 'Remembrance', 'Night Song', 'Vinding's Music - Songs From The Alder Thicket', 'La notte', his tribute to film  director Antonioni, and 'Sunrise', a cantata on texts by Edvard Munch.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003ePersonnel: Ketil Bj?rnstad (piano), H?kon Kornstad (saxophone, flute, voice), Birger Mistereggen (percussion), Oslo Chamber Choir, H?kon Daniel Nystedt (conductor)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50527368970571,"sku":"2017400","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_3b245d4a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728053651"},{"product_id":"remembrance-2","title":"Remembrance","description":"\u003cp\u003eFirst release from a new trio of Norwegian jazz veterans, 'Remembrance' features Ketil Bj?rnstad and Jon Christensen, musical associates for almost 40 years, alongside saxophonist Tore Brunborg for some joyful playing. Strongly melodic in both extroverted and introverted modes, the music is by turns reflective and outgoing - and likely to connect with a large audience.  \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKetil Bj?rnstad and Jon Christensen have been friends since the great drummer played on Bj?rnstad's very first recordings in the early 1970s. And when Ketil came to ECM for 'Water Stories' in 1993 Christensen was once again on board, staying to become a charter member of the pianist's Sea Quartet through the 1990s. This long alliance gives plenty of 'remembrances' to draw upon, and Bj?rnstad's exquisite compositions provide contexts in which memories can be newly experienced. The project is also forward-looking: at the instigation of producer Manfred Eicher, they are joined by saxophonist Tore Brunborg, in his third ECM showing this season (following sessions with Tord Gustavsen and Manu Katch?) and currently at a creative peak. Ketil's chord patterns provide a centre from which Tore and Jon launch their explorations.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eKetil Bj?rnstad described as \"a cultural prodigy\" by The Guardian's John Fordham, started out as a classical pianist, making his debut with the Oslo Philharmonic, playing Bart?k. Encounters with jazz of the late 1960s, especially Miles and Coltrane, changed his priorities and he switched to playing with the jazz men. Simultaneously he has maintained a career as a respected writer with many books to his credit - novels, poems, essays and more. 2010 is a set to be a big year for Bj?rnstad: another disc - a duo with cellist Svante Henrykson - is scheduled for release this autumn.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003eOne of the most influential drummers in modern jazz history, Jon Christensen helped to define music on ECM in the early years, in the bands of Jan Garbarek, Bobo Stenson, Keith Jarrett, Eberhard Weber, Terje Rypdal, and Ralph Towner.\u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003ePersonnel: Ketil Bj?rnstad (piano), Jon Christensen (drums), Tore Brunborg (saxophones)\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"ECM","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50530855682379,"sku":"2018021","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/test_53b422e4_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1728085843"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/ketil-bjornstad.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}