Jazz musician, songwriter and guitarist, Odd-Arne Jacobsen has worked with most of the leading artists in Norway in theatre and music, and has also presented his art internationally. Tore Morten Andreassen Figenschow is a Norwegian guitarist, composer, instrumental and theory teacher and lecturer in electric guitar at the Conservatory of Music at the University of Tromsø. TMA also plays guitar and mellotron in prog rock band Neograss. Together Odd-Arne and Tore Morten have recorded the 6 track EP called, “Dialoger”.
If you’ve been listening to Odd-Arne Jacobsen then you know that he leans toward composed pieces that allow room for interpretative soloing and often thundering or syncopated conclusions that use guitar voicings for emotion and tension. “Dialoger” to me is a continuation of that tradition.
It is less muscular than some the earlier stuff but more expansive and cleaner sounding. The compositions are intricate and the playing is perhaps more advanced. I would imagine this is because of Tore Morten who has a strong presence in the music.
They left me transfixed. There are no weak cuts on this recording. Pick a song, any song, and it’s a good one. This duo continues to surprise, in the way that they can be familiar to us, but yet new in the way that the songs are done. Odd-Arne Jacobsen is ever present, supportive when necessary but soloing with such a keen sense of the piece he is playing and how his solo fits.
He never goes off on tangents of fleet fingered but irrelevant solos. He adds so much to this music. Tore Morten Andreassen is unique and contributes more color and texture with his playing ability.
While the Odd-Arne Jacobsen style is here, he doesn’t fall back on rehashing and emulating the previous sounds, but taking it further, utilizing new techniques, a rich clean tone and a great way of keeping within the tune also. Odd-Arne continues to push the musical envelope well beyond what people define as Jazz.
And if you, like me, believe that Jazz is in a constant state of evolution then you should not expect each and every album that these guys make to be the same.
This album finds Odd-Arne pushing the envelope once again and the interplay between himself and Tore Morten is stellar!! There is much to digest here so give it a chance and listen to it a bunch of times before you dismiss it because you’ll be missing out on some serious guitar music if you don’t give it a chance.
The two provide a very enjoyable platform for themselves to exchange ideas and push each other. The improvisational Dialog on this EP is exclusively between two guitars, so don’t expect any other instruments. It’s a true rarity that artists can create something that cannot be classified except unto themselves.
The songs move smoothly, with a buoyant and captivating sense of emotion that comes to define Odd-Arne Jacobsen and Tore Morten Andreassen Figenschow sound. For me, this collaboration works and should be repeated in the near future.
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