The Oddgeir Berg Trio at Stoke-By-Nayland Hotel

“A piano trio to get truly excited about, a trio for the new millenium” **** Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Jazz trios named after the piano player give certain expectations, be it Horace Silver and his tender "Que Pasa" or Esbjørn Svensson and his Northern sounds; clarity and intimacy are common to these, with a hint of tonal melancholy. These characteristics also present with The Oddgeir Berg Trio, who are clearly familiar with a Scandinavian jazz tradition.

The Trio's sound has been called "withdrawn and cinematic." In this respect they share a characteristic with another Norwegian piano group, the Tord Gustavsen Trio. A notable difference is Oddgeir Berg Trio's more effusive embrace of electronics, although the acoustic side is primary with the electronic side serving as enhancement, adding to the cinematic and atmospheric aspect of the sound....

read more

“A piano trio to get truly excited about, a trio for the new millenium” **** Dan McClenaghan, All About Jazz

Jazz trios named after the piano player give certain expectations, be it Horace Silver and his tender "Que Pasa" or Esbjørn Svensson and his Northern sounds; clarity and intimacy are common to these, with a hint of tonal melancholy. These characteristics also present with The Oddgeir Berg Trio, who are clearly familiar with a Scandinavian jazz tradition.

The Trio's sound has been called "withdrawn and cinematic." In this respect they share a characteristic with another Norwegian piano group, the Tord Gustavsen Trio. A notable difference is Oddgeir Berg Trio's more effusive embrace of electronics, although the acoustic side is primary with the electronic side serving as enhancement, adding to the cinematic and atmospheric aspect of the sound.

The trio has some other tricks up its sleeve though, most importantly an urgency for action, pace and adventure. Here the Oslo based trio has more in common with Miles Davis’ Jack Johnson than Scandinavia’s Jan Johannson. The Jimi Hendrix rock sound of Karl-Joakin Wisloff’s double bass and the propulsive drum sound of Klaus Robert Blomvik energetically support Oddgeir Berg’s playing. Berg’s curiosity in experimenting with Wurlitzer\Rhodes and synthesizer sounds sneaks into the soundscape and lends a distinctive colour to the sound panorama.

“Electro-acoustic jazz with one leg in melancholy and the other in ecstasy.”

show less