Fragmentarium

Erlend Apneseth follows up the acclaimed 2019 Hubro release, 'Salika,Molika' with the richly collaborative 'Fragmentarium'. Here, a kind of experimental Nordic supergroup made up of Stein Urheim, AnjaLauvdal, Hans Hulbækmo, Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and Ida Løvli Hidle, plus Apneseth himself, adapts a series of the leader's original compositions into often wild and spontaneous-sounding arrangements where improvisation remains absolutely key to the overall group feel. Recorded, mixed, mastered and co-produced once again by Jørgen Træen, who conveys a wonderfully transparent sense of immediacy and clarity to the sound, 'Fragmentarium' is a suitably live-sounding document of a very 'live' music-making process. "This project was originally commissioned for the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2019", says Erlend Apneseth. "As I was free to choose what I wanted to do, I knew I wanted to work with a new ensemble, as an experiment to make my music go in new directions. Some of the musicians I had worked with in other bands or on other occasions, some of them I met musically for the first time. Most importantly, they all have in common a very open-minded approach to music and have inspired me with their work on previous occasions, so this was really a dream-team gathering for me." Guitarist Stein Urheim is a staple of the Hubo label with a string of solo and group recordings to his name; Anja Lauvdal (piano, synth, electronics), is well-known for her role in the trio Moskus and the large ensemble Skadedyr, plus several other projects; drummer and multi-instrumentalist Hans Hulbækmo, and bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, both play with Lauvdal in both Moskus and Skadedyr. All three studied on the Jazz Program at Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium. Accordionist Ida Løvli Hidle, who works internationally in classical chamber-music contexts as well as folk and jazz, is another Trondheim graduate, and also a member of Skadedyr. She studied with Frode Haltli at the Norwegian Academy of Music.