ARTIST: TORE LJØKELSØY QUARTET
TITLE: PANORAM
LABEL: DUGNAD REC
CAT. NO: DUG034
FORMAT: LP / 12’’
GENRE: JAZZ / EXPERIMENTAL / AVANTGARDE
RELEASE DATE: 5 MAY 2023

Sparky, raw and untiringly nuanced, Dugnad Rec continue their bold additions to the world of jazz. As expected from the Tore Ljøkelsøy Kvartett, this jam-packed album arrives in one compositionally refined and mature expression. The work is filled with a playful and often cheeky vitality, yet remains underscored by a professorial consistency that marks it with the unmistakable stamp of intellect and class. One should expect nothing less.

As if scripting a film, each song seems to carve its own scene, earnestly shedding light onto all characters involved; yet doing so without favouritism. No role is unimportant, no instrument misses its moment in the limelight. Percussion leads but is equally impartial to a backseat, piano saunters in and out with stutters of brass that evolve into increasingly bold and enigmatic phrases, each element playing off the stable and resonant metronome of the double bass. Despite all this, nothing is ever rushed.

In this sense, the Tore Ljøkelsøy Kvartett have transformed a quartet into an orchestra, playing on the plethora of personalities that each instrument is made capable of.

Some songs pride themselves on a foreign, dissonant structure such as the opening tracks, while others lean on the security of a stable foundation and more familiar time sequence. Filled with nooks and crannies, red herrings and surprises, no listener can ever get too comfortable. Songs vary in length, from two-minute improvised interludes to eleven-minute marathons and each range with respective intensity.

Final sentiments in the closing chapter provide a faintly nostalgic narrative before releasing one last exhale of pent-up emotion. The ending sequence leads us away towards a gate of our own finding; giving light to a world of sensation that may otherwise have laid dormant.

The album marks a clear interest and understanding of human curiosity, wafting aural intrigue toward the out-turned ear of any willing listener. The coherence of the group is nourished by the fact that each member knows the other both as a musical personality, with their own capabilities and strengths and also as a human, with a unique temperament and interests. Combining such an elixir of minds has culminated in this free, exciting and often rose-scented approach that can proudly be said to characterise the Tore Ljøkelsøy Kvartett.