Wako
LIVE IN OSLO
Photo: Stein Hødnebø
Live in oslo is Wako's fifth album.
Release: 23. april 2021
“March top chart album”
Wako are releasing their fifth record, a live album that further establishes them as one of Norway's leading jazz groups, and recalls their active touring nature. The album displays the band's unique musical palette, which is augmented by four phenomenal guests. The album also features three songs of pure quartet joy, from Oslo Jazz Festival 2020. This is an album that Øra believes puts Norwegian music in a particularly positive light beyond Norway's borders.
To emulate the grandiose and eclectic character of Wako’s eponymous fourth album, the release concert at National Jazzscene in Oslo - Norway's premier jazz venue - was played with four guest musicians on stage. Tore Brunborg, Kyrre Laastad, Adrian Løseth Waade and Lars Horntveth - some of the finest jazz musicians there are in Norway. On November 6th 2020, the day of the concert, a new lockdown was announced in Oslo, and the concert with Wako and friends was to be the last with an audience in Oslo for almost half a year. Wako's "Live in Oslo" is the story of an evening where musicians played and the audience listened, because they didn’t know when they would have the opportunity again.
“A definitive statement for Norwegian Jazz ”
With four studio records and hundreds of live performances under their belt, Wako plays with an authority and personality that places them at the forefront of Nordic jazz. Wako is one of the most dynamic and innovative groups on today's jazz scene, and has built a solid fan base and garnered recognition from critics near and far. According to Mark Sullivan (All About Jazz - US), Wako is "a Norwegian jazz collective with a real collective sound", and the previous album "Wako" (Ear phonogram, 2020) was put on the top list of Jazzwise (UK) both in March and April 2020. Wako has taken their ever-evolving musicality and creativity with them around Europe, and done renditions of their music live both as a quartet, with the Oslo String ensemble, and with trumpet virtuoso Arve Henriksen, among others. The scope of the music is always carefully adjusted to the audience, environment and musical material, which means that the concerts are not only superlative, but also unique experiences. In short, Wako is one of the most impressive young live groups today. Individually, the musicians can also be seen in projects such as Norwegian grammy winner Hegge, norwegian grammy nominees Megalodon Collective, Espen Berg trio, Kjetil Mulelid Trio and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.
Musicians:
Martin Myhre Olsen – saxophones
Kjetil André Mulelid – piano & synth
Bárður Reinert Poulsen – double & electric bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums
Tore Brunborg -tenor saxophone
Lars Horntveth - bass clarinet and steel guitar
Adrian Løseth Waade - violin
Kyrre Laastad - vibraphone, percussion and electronics
“«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 179
Produced and arranged by Wako
Track 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 & 7 recorded at Nasjonal Jazzscene by Simen Scharning,, November 6th 2020
Track 5, 8 & 9 recorded at Oslo Jazz Festival by Ingar Hunskaar, August 15th 2020
Mixed and mastered by Karl Klaseie at Øra Mastering
Cover design by Bárður Reinert Poulsen
Sleeve photo by Stein Hødnebø
Track 1, 2, 6, 8 & 9 composed by Martin Myhre Olsen
Track 3, 4, 5 & 7 composed by Kjetil André Mulelid