The Widening Sphere of Influence

These three musicians are operating at the interface between jazz, chamber music and folk music. The tradition established by Swedish musician Jan Johansson has, perhaps, been the primary source of inspiration for their music. The trio has a distinctive idiom, refreshingly free of what have been described as “piano-trio clichés”. Barely a year-and-a-half after their debut recording they are releasing a new album, this one also featuring guest soloists. The music is just as beautiful as on the group’s previous recording, and now has a more expansive quality. The energy level is intense throughout, but volume is not necessarily the decisive parameter for energy. Eple Trio is living proof of this. The group’s music is appealingly melodious and outgoing, revealing a brave young trio that dares to follow its own path. This is in striking contrast to the rank and file of young Norwegian jazz musicians, who have been so obviously influenced and inspired by the North American high-energy jazz of the 1960s and 70s. This album offers new, stylistically confident compositions with a distinctive quality that we could, perhaps, start calling the “Eple sound”. The members of the trio have developed an unusual level of empathy in their interplay. Jan Erik Kongshaug has once again worked his sound magic at Rainbow Studios in Oslo.