André Roligheten is known for his strong presence in a number of collaborations with everything from Gard Nilssen’s Acoustic Unity, Team Hegdal, Friends & Neighbors, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Susanne Sundfør, to his own release “Roligheten – Homegrown” from 2017.
With his new adventurous ensemble, he is now releasing brand new music on the album “Marbles” (Odin, 03.11.23). The album contains a collection of compositions that facilitate bold interaction. The compositions are conceived as parallel universes with their own, improvised musical forms. Imagine that Sonny Rollins and Egberto Gismonti met on the beach at a yoga retreat in Hawaii and decided to make an album together!
Roligheten brings out a highly personal expression in his warm tenor saxophone together with a star team of Scandinavian musicians. Each and every one of them adds a unique depth and substance to the musical universe; Strøm’s rigorous double bass, Ståhl’s bold vibraphone, Nilssen’s elastic drums and Lindström’s gripping pedal steel. This merges into a unique sound that carries Roligheten’s compositions on a golden stool.
The gallery of people in this ensemble has prestigious names, and they have worked with artists and bands such as Tonbruket, Bushman’s Revenge, Ane Brun, Paal Nilssen-Love, Bobo Stenson, Supersonic Orchestra and Georg Riedel.
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ROLIGHETEN ABOUT THE MUSIC:
“I have drawn most of the inspiration for the compositions from imagining the personalities of the people in the band. Everyone has a clear sound and a unique way of playing. If I’ve been a bit stuck in the writing, I’ve often thought “what would Johan, Gard, Jon Rune or Mattias have played here?” In this way, the recording becomes a collective process, even if it is my compositions. I have tried as best as possible to arrange the compositions personally for the four individual voices, so that we can play, stretch and bend the material together. The greatest joy as a composer is when the musicians take ownership over the material themselves in their personal way, and lift the music to places that are almost impossible to imagine alone.”
I have heard references in my head and material from the history of music and tried to translate it to these four musicians through my own narrative voice. The result has become something between historical-retrospective and future-oriented music, seen and colored by my musical vision. I am very happy to play with the perception of, for example, the concrete/absurd and the down-to-earth/spiritual. Such opposite poles provide friction and energy. The way I associate the music now that it is finished, at least for the time being, I imagine a place or a time in a parallel reality where the compositions are perceived as a form of traditional music. Each piece of music stands on its own, but still has a gravitation to each other, a bit like the planets in a solar system. I feel like these compositions are marbles floating away in a galaxy far, far away.”
