Kattenslager Helge Lien Trio

• 1 Grusveivandrer 04:28
• 2 Furulokk 05:35
• 3 Ur 05:40
• 4 Babbel 07:08
• 5 Stille By 05:43
• 6 Kattenslager 03:58
• 7 Knyt Og Kna 05:32
• 8 Uro 08:41
• 9 Øy 04:56
• Total Runtime 51:41

Info for Kattenslager

The title of Helge Lien's official debut as a solo artist is as eccentric as the music contained on it. While listening to a Danish jazz song from the 60s, Norwegian Lien misheard the lyrics as saying "Kattenslager". In fact, they were referring to a "Plattenslager" ("Pop Record"), but the non-existing term would prove to be perfect for the album's equally subtle, mysterious and disturbing piano sounds. Fans of Lien's lyrical trio work certainly won't be disappointed. And yet this time, his performance is no longer restricted by any preconceived melodic motives. Instead, ideas flow from his fingers with complete ease and unbound by limiting concepts, resulting in a record of remarkable freedom, immediacy and unpredictability.

In creative terms, "Kattenslager" marks another important step forward for Helge Lien. Already his six releases with his internationally renowned trio showed him to be one of the leading Norwegian pianists of his generation, translating the sound of fjords and trolls into utterly unconventional, irresistible and highly addictive compositions. "Kattenslager" now sees him pursuing an even more explorative and experimental direction and constantly gauging the limits of tonality - walking the tightrope between fluxus and flexibility, jazz and classical, between traditional arrangement and the avantgarde.

Within this personal sonic maelstrom, the laws of physic no longer seem to apply. Through more than a decade of touring and performing, Lien has built a dazzling virtuosity and on "Kattenslager", he is channeling his technique into eleven tracks of free-flowing improvisation. Although still clearly revealing his roots in jazz and classical music, Lien is drawing from a far wider stylistic spectrum, displaying a wealth of idiosyncratic musical ideas and arranging them according to the moods and feelings of the moment. On opener "Grusveivandrer", the result are garish, dark and yet playful sonic spaces deliberately deconstructing the conventional timbres of the piano. Extending far beyond the soft touch of piano keys, Lien is penetrating the core of his instrument, turning it into a mirror of his soul.

Consciously avoiding predictable approaches and forms, each track on the album is an expression of individuality: Nordic-folk influenced "Furulokk" is riding a wave of expressive (dis)harmonies created by the continuous oscillation between dark and light notes. "Ur" slows the pace of the music down to a deep, meditative breath. And on "Babbel", gently floating waves accompanied by a fearful subsonic roar flow into cool free-jazz phrasings, momentarily taking the listener back into familiar territory,. In some cases, as on "Stille By", the result is even born from complete silence and universal emptiness. And yet, as a whole, "Kattenslager" is all about quirkiness and sheer delight in playing. This may sound like a contradiction in terms to many of his colleagues. And yet, to Helge Lien, chaos is order and contemplation - and from the outward disorder of some of his pieces grows a strange sense of peace.

Helge Lien, piano

Produced by Helge Lien
Music created by Helge Lien
Piano: C.Bechstein C-234
Engineer: Espen Amundsen

Awards:
Nummer 1 Norwegischer Grammy Bestes Jazzalbum
Best Audiophile Release (SoundStage!)
Hansa Award, Natjazz Festival 2007
DnBNor Musicians Award 2008, Kongsberg Jazzfestival
Bestes Jazzalbum des Jahres 2008 in Norwegen (Helge Lien Trio - Hello Troll)

A little nation with a big jazz tradition is the land of fjords and trolls. Fascinating new artists and acts sporting a huge zest for playing and an irrepressible urge for experimentation keep pushing out of Norway to conquer the rest of the jazz world. The Helge Lien Trio, who have already won a large circle of fans in Scandinavia and Japan with their five albums and inspiring live concerts, are especially significant. They maintain the balance between jazz traditions and the avantgardist art of improvisation like hardly any other classic piano trio, par excellence.

Helge Lien, who besides his own trio project performs with other Norwegian acts like Silje Nergaard, has developed his very own unmistakeable style of trio playing with band colleagues Frode Berg (bass) and Knut Aalefjær (drums & percussion). With instinctive sureness, the musicians develop a „chamber music“ jazz that stands out through its harmonically complex tone colors. Building on Bill Evans’ lyrical power and the exhilaratingly melancholic playing of Esbjörn Svensson, Lien, in constant dialogue with Berg & Aalefjær, creates distinct moods on 'Hello Troll' – moods that he presents with ease.

Doubtlessly pianist Helge Lien, who is very skilled at playing to the gallery with his modal piano art, is one of the most exciting young talents in Scandinavia. After the honorable Dagbladet from Norway already described the forerunner CD 'To The Little Radio' as „the best Norwegian Piano Trio Album in a long time', we can be looking out for a similar reaction to their new longplayer. Playing their way into the hearts of a steadily growing circle of listeners with classic-impressionistic patterns and rhythmical-melodic jazz, this trio’s resourcefulness seems to truly know no bounds.

Booklet for Kattenslager