New album to be released on Dec the first!
You can pre-listen here:iTunes
New album: Terje Isungset & Sissel Vera Pettersen, “OASE”
It might be improvised, it might be melodic or abstract structures - it might be wild and powerful or even very silent and beautiful.
The music of the album “Oase” is something by its own, and it doesn´t fit into any specific style. Sometimes inspired by nature - wild, strong, fragile, wet, dry, cold or warm - or sometimes inspired by everyday life in general.
This recording beautifully captures the first duo encounter between two kindred musical spirits. An intuitive conversation between two significant improvisers who share a subtle discipline that results in a focused and cohesive whole. Terje Isungset and Sissel Vera Pettersen have previously collaborated in larger constellations, and through those grew a strong wish to explore common sonorities in duo format. They both draw on inspiration from nature and a wide range of musical cultures, and they both move in musical landscapes where resonance, timbre, space and texture are essential points of navigation. Wordless vocals, live electronic processing, and the use of instruments hand crafted from arctic birch, granite, slate and rams horn, results in a genre-defying album, and soundscapes much different than what you would expect from a duo of voice and drums.
Terje Isungset is counted as one of Europe's most acclaimed and innovative percussionist. For over two decades, he has experimented and challenged the limits of jazz and Scandinavian traditional music.
Crafting his own instruments from Norwegian natural elements such as arctic birch, granite, slate, sheep bells and even ice, he is highly recommended to those sensible to the poetry and simplicity of sounds. “Timbres” and “colours” are central in Terje Isungsets music and compositions.
In the press, his work has often been described as innovative, visual, energetic, and different from any previously known concepts. Isungset has also been commissioned to compose music for Jazz Festivals, Dance Performances, Theatre, Film, etc. (40 commissed concerts) His composition efforts have also brought nine critically acclaimed solo CD`s. In the book Percussion Profiles Isungset was given a thorough presentation. “Interviews-articles and discographies of 25 of the worlds most creative percussionists”. He has been given the Norwegian awards Jazz musician of the year and composer of the year.
Sissel Vera Pettersen is widely renowned for her extended and experimental vocal techniques, often paired with a highly creative use of live electronics. She has collaborated with artists such as John Hollenbeck, Chick Corea, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Jon Balke, Theo Bleckmann, Marc Ducret, and Lionel Loueke, and has toured extensively all over Europe, in USA and Africa. Pettersen is the artistic leader of the vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices.
Selected press quotes:
“Her voice a transparent gossamer of silk.” ”Hers is an instrument that can scape sound and syllable, making it the messenger of every articulation whether it is a whisper, an ululation or a prance on the edge of a scream”
-All about Jazz (USA)
"Capable of producing sustained lines of the utmost purity, wild ululations and the occasional melodic line that simply disappears off the treble clef, Pettersen's voice is an instrument of extraordinary flexibility. ...one of those powerful emotional jolts that really stirs the soul." -The Arts Desk (UK)
“In live perfomances one is struck by the flow of Sissels improvisations.
The sounds and tones just seem to pour out of her, each more daring than the next.
She makes screams, squeeks and noises dance over rythmic patterns as pirouettes on ice, while stretching time to it´s very limit.”
-Lira Music Magazine, (SE)
