Turmusikk

(English: «Walking music»)

The album “Turmusikk” by Norwegian composer and drummer Jonas Sjøvaag follows “Commuter Music” released in January 2020. Where “Commuter Music” was securely lodged in the ambient tradition and in many ways exhibited a close sonic connection to Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” “Turmusikk” is one step closer to Sjøvaag’s background as a jazz musician and as a composer for ensembles featuring a piano.

The album relates to the Scandinavian jazz tradition, both in terms of sound and improvisational style, and in terms of pushing the boundaries and exploring new territory.

It partly employs a traditional jazz instrumentation while in other parts it relies on evolving soundscapes that provide an underlay for improvisation that draws heavily on Sjøvaag’s background as a classical pianist. There’s a short impromptu for solo piano, and in yet another part, strings from a future recording by Sjøvaag has been re-used, improvised on top of, and sonically processed. It results in a track that has a modern and sentimental quality at the same time, and as such is finishes the album by highlighting the running theme of the album itself.

Sjøvaag plays all instruments on this album, with the exception of strings played by Scottish fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers.

Front cover painting by Jonas Sjøvaag