The Bridges - Bridges With Seamus Blake (2016)

Anders Thorén is a Swedish drummer and producer who recently relocated to Oslo and is involved in a new label called AMP Music & Records. They’ve released a bunch of great jazz albums over the past couple of years, most recently this one that I was asked to play on. Besides Anders and myself, the album features the excellent Norwegian pianist Espen Berg and bassist Ole Morten Vågan and the New York-based saxophonist Seamus Blake. To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with Seamus before this session (!), but he’s a monster of a player with big ears and chops to match them (something I could also say of my other fellow musicians on this album)!

Anders’ idea for this album was to”bridge the gap” between the highly technical and intense style often playing often associated with the American/New York scene and the more tranquil approach that many of the Scandinavian outfits offer. A fun project to be a part of and, in my opinion, also a very successful one. We’re also really happy to have been given an endorsement by one of my favourite musicians, drummer Peter Erskine: “A new and important recording project led by drummer Anders Thoren. Great musicians, with sound by legendary Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios in Oslo. One of the more impressive albums I’ve heard in a long time, and highly recommended.”

The music is available on CD and comes with a booklet that includes photos by photographer Pierluca Taranta. It is also available for streaming via Spotify etc.

The album has been reviewed in Norwegian media such as Dagens Næringsliv and Musikk-Kultur, international reviews will hopefully follow soon.



Track List:
1 Heart In Hand [Free Collective Improvisation] 2:52
2 Bridges (Berg) 5:44
3 Song For Karla (Thorén) 4:24
4 Frozen [Free Collective Improvisation] 3:20
5 Tredje (Berg) 5:03
6 Dear Old Stockholm (Frölin) 3:57
7 Extranjero (Blake) 6:50
8 Step Song (Powell) 3:24
9 Effervescence [Free Collective Improvisation] 3:53
10 Jali (Blake) 4:14

Seamus Blake - saxophone,
Hayden Powell - trumpet,
Espen Berg - piano,
Ole Morten Vågan - bass,
Anders Thorén - drums

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