Wako
WAKO
Photo: Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard
Wako is Wako's fourth album.
Release: 21. february 2020
“March top chart album”
"In this, their follow-up to "Urolige sinn", Wako have adopted new creative processes, approaches and methods, as well as an exceptional roster of guest musicians. "Wako" is an album of diversity, a jazz and improvisational banquet, a cornucopia of compositional exploration, and – above all – very aptly named, as it is resoundingly "Wako".
Once again, Martin Myhre Olsen and Kjetil A. Mulelid's compositions interweave order and chaos, dissonance and harmony, light and shade, and all manner of musical grit and gusto in a unique fashion. Moments of pensive serenity collapse into ecstatic frenzies. Other moments hint at rock, perhaps even pop music, while others are saturated in a colourful abstract expressionism. With such an utter disregard for purism, and a will to venture deep into the sonic unknown, Wako creates a unique musical dialect, if not a completely new language.
“A definitive statement for Norwegian Jazz ”
The augmentation of the line-up adds textural layers that alter the mood, highlight the drama, and heighten the tension (sometimes almost to breaking point). Featuring strings (not an entirely new occurrence in the Wako canon – see "Modes for All Eternity", their album with Oslo Strings), both solo (Adrian Løseth Waade, violin) and trio (Kaja C. Rogers, violin; Isa C. Holmesland, viola; Kaja Pettersen, cello), where elements of Zappaesque baroque can merge with Sibelian swells or angular pizzicato, or simply launch into gypsy-like combustion. Rob Waring's vibraphone comps and mirrors the zig-zag licks, while Arve Henriksen's trumpet and mercurial sampling contributions highlight Beatles-style shuffling grooves with (semi-)ironic big band stylings á la James Last and Bert Kaempfert. The saxophone contributions from Jonas Kullhammar, Espen Reinertsen and Sissel Vera Pettersen compliment, contrast, and augment Martin Myhre Olsen's reed work, while the additional synth from Reinertsen and the vocals from Pettersen add new colours to the whole sound.
Musicians:
Martin Myhre Olsen – saxophone
Kjetil André Mulelid – piano
Bárður Reinert Poulsen – double bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums
Additional musicians:[1,8,13] Kaja Constance Rogers, violin; Isa Caroline Holmesland, viola; Kaja Pettersen, cello[3] Kyrre Laastad, Roland RE-201, [4,9,12] Rob Waring, vibraphone, [6] Espen Reinertsen, saxophone, modular synthesizer and effects, [7] Arve Henriksen, trumpet, synthesizer and sampling, [9] Jonas Kullhammar, Varitone saxophone, [9,13] Adrian Løseth Waade, violin, [10] Sissel Vera Pettersen, saxophone and voice.
“«Wako» is an album that summarizes a significant period of this busy, innovative band, presenting itself as a versatile and highly diverse outfit that still wishes to expand its aesthetic”
“Arranged musical wrestling”
“Thought-over and creative music from a full-grown quartet”
“If you like something diverse and intriguing with a vivacious blend of cross-pollinated jazz seeds that have grown into something fresh, wild and adventurous, this is an album well worth checking out.”
“Calling Wako an adventurous jazz band is actually too limited”
“A musical journey which brings epic goodness in modernist Dancefloor Jazz”
“Wako has in a short time worked his way up to the first division with an intelligent, melodic and sharp variant”
PRODUCTION // OF 135
Produced and arranged by Wako
Track 2,4,5,7,9,12 recorded by Dag Erik Johansen at Athletic Sound in Halden August 21st and 22nd 2019
Track 1,3,6,8,10,11,13 recorded by Karl Klaseie at Øra Studios in Trondheim September 23rd and 24th 2019
Strings recorded by Øyvind Røsrud at Brageveien Studio in Oslo November 3rd 2019
Additional recording by Kullhammar, Reinertsen and Henriksen in the comfort of their own studios.
Mixed and mastered by Karl Klaseie at Øra Mastering
Cover photo by Signe Fuglesteg Luksengard
Cover design by Christian Meaas Svendsen
All compositions by Martin Myhre Olsen, except track 3, 7, 10 and 11 by Kjetil André Mulelid
String arrangements by Martin Myhre Olsen