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Eivind Aarset

Eivind Aarset is a guitarist with a unique musical vision that absorbs and reflects all manner of music while retaining an enviable individualism and high quality craftsmanship that can span from quiet intimacy to searing intensity. His debut as a bandleader on Jazzland Recordings was described by the New York Times as "One of the best post-Miles electric jazz albums," setting a high benchmark that Aarset has consistently met and exceeded, both in the studio and in live performance.

As one of Norway's most in-demand guitarists, Eivind Aarset has worked with Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Bill Laswell, Jan Garbarek, Paolo Fresu, Marilyn Mazur, J.Peter Schwalm, Mike Manieri, Marc Ducret, Michel Benitas Ethics, Martux-M, Stefano Battaglia, Michele Rabbia, Talvin Singh, and Andy Sheppard. He has worked with Nils Petter Molvaer's band, (appearing on all of Molvaer's albums, including the breakthrough album "Khmer" and 2006's award-winning "ER"). He also has collaborated with Dhafer Youssef, both live and in the studio.

Aarset's musical awakening happened when, at the age of 12, he heard Jimi Hendrix. "I started on the guitar as soon as I heard him," he recalls with a smile. "I bought a second hand Hendrix record and that was it. Then I started getting into rock bands like Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Santana and Pink Floyd before my brother introduced me to the music of Miles Davis, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, Weather Report and Return to Forever. After a while, I got into the ECM sound of Jan Garbarek, and Terje Rypdal, who was a big influence. Then I went on the road with a fulltime heavy metal band, a fantastic experience, until I got tired of being angry every night! Then I quit and became a session musician."

As part of the band, Ab & Zu, he created the unique guitar style and sound he would later develop further as part of saxophonist Bendik Hofseth's group. However, it was his involvement with Bugge Wesseltoft and the Oslo Jazz underground that crystallized the sound he was seeking: "What drew me to this music was the hypnotic grooves and musical freedom I found," says Eivind. "There's no established rules or tradition in what I am doing, you can make the rules up as you go along. Rhythm is the centre of the music, the landscape the soloist travels through. It's fresh territory and I have no idea where this scene will end up, but there's a lot of great sounds and new music being created which makes it such an exciting scene."

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Live Review

Eivind Aarset e Jan Bang al Roma Jazz Festival 2023

Read "Eivind Aarset e Jan Bang al Roma Jazz Festival 2023" reviewed by Mario Calvitti


Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang Roma Jazz Festival 2023 Teatro Studio, Parco della Musica Roma 12.11.2023 Il chitarrista norvegese Eivind Aarset dopo una iniziale gavetta si è fatto notare dal grosso pubblico verso la fine degli anni '90, con la partecipazione a due album pubblicati da ECM, Small Labyrinths del gruppo Future Song di Marilyn Mazur e il seminale Khmer di Nils Petter Molvaer, che mettevano in mostra (soprattutto il secondo) le sue particolari ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Billy Cobham, Markus Reuter, Mark Lettieri and Eivind Aarset

Read "Billy Cobham, Markus Reuter, Mark Lettieri and Eivind Aarset" reviewed by Len Davis


Spanish guitarist Chema Vilchez, Billy Cobham, Serbian band Bosque and German touch guitarist Markus Reuter. Jordan Rudess, Mark Lettieri and Hungarian band European Mantra then Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset.Playlist Chema Vilchez “Lost In The Labyrinth" from The Dream of the Navigator (Enfasis) 00:00 Billy Cobham “Mirage" from Compass Point (Purple Pyramid)07:11 Bosque “Escape From Urumchi" from Escape From Urumchi (Metropolis) 14:31 Markus Reuter-Asaf Sirkis “Power Series" from Truce (Moonjune) 21:42 Jordan Rudess “Faceless Pastiche" from Prime Cuts (Magna ...

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Album Review

Stephan Thelen: Fractal Guitar 3

Read "Fractal Guitar 3" reviewed by Mark Sullivan


Guitarist/composer Stephan Thelen presents the third installment of his Fractal Guitar series. Like the previous albums, the emphasis is on multiple guitars, layered in kaleidoscopic arrangements based on his compositions and guitar playing, but significantly colored by the contributions of his collaborators. This edition was also influenced by the other albums that he was working on simultaneously: Transneptunian Planets with J. Peter Schwalm, Eivind Aarset, Tim Harries and Manuel Pasquinelli (RareNoiseRecords, 2022); Fractal Sextet with Jon Durant, Fabio Anile, Colin ...

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Live Review

Fano Jazz by the Sea 2022

Read "Fano Jazz by the Sea 2022" reviewed by Libero Farnè


Fano Varie sedi 22—31.7.2022 Fano Jazz by the Sea, giunto al traguardo della trentesima edizione, ha confermato un impianto organizzativo ormai collaudato, messo a punto negli anni dal suo storico direttore artistico Adriano Pedini. Concentrato nel centro storico della cittadina marchigiana, il festival ha ruotato soprattutto attorno al nucleo formato dal main stage, all'interno delle possenti mura della Rocca Malatestiana, e dal vivace e polifunzionale Jazz Village allestito all'esterno della Rocca stessa. Uno degli obiettivi della ...

Album Review

Eivind Aarset: Phantasmagoria, or a Different Kind of Journey

Read "Phantasmagoria, or a Different Kind of Journey" reviewed by Mario Calvitti


Dopo aver collaborato negli ultimi anni come creatore di alchimie sonore per vari progetti musicali in compagnia di musicisti come Jan Bang, Arve Henriksen, Sly & Robbie, Michele Rabbia, Bendik Hoffset e altri, ritroviamo il chitarrista norvegese Eivind Aarset alla guida di un proprio quartetto con il quale ha pubblicato qualche mese fa questo Phantasmagoria. Al proprio fianco Aarset ha richiamato il bassista Audun Erlien e i due batteristi Erland Dahlen e Wetle Holte, già insieme a lui nella Sonic ...

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Album Review

J. Peter Schwalm & Stephan Thelen: Transneptunian Planets

Read "Transneptunian Planets" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


To get any further out than Transneptunian Planets, one would have to travel to the edge of the solar system. The title of the album— offered up by electro-acoustic composer J. Peter Schwalm and guitarist, composer & mathematician Stephan Thelen—refers to objects orbiting the sun in the far reaches, out beyond Neptune. Many of these objects may be news to those who do not follow the progress of astronomy; though, surely, everyone is familiar with Pluto—way out there, once a ...

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Live Review

Punkt Festival 2021

Read "Punkt Festival 2021" reviewed by Henning Bolte


Eivind Aarset Hotel Norge, Blå Kors Punkt Festival Kristiansand September, 2-4, 2021 Live remix is the key element and trademark of Punkt Festival in Kristiansand, southern Norway, now in its 17th year. Life itself had been remixed severely by the COVID pandemic that struck at the beginning of 2020. It left its traces at Punkt. However, Punkt succeeded in securing continuity with scaled-down editions in 2020 and 2021. Strikingly Punkt took no recourse to ...

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Recording

M.O.D. Technologies To Release Hu Vibrational's The Epic Botanical Beat Suite - With Special Guests Eivind Aarset, Bill Laswell And More!

M.O.D. Technologies To Release Hu Vibrational's The Epic Botanical Beat Suite - With Special Guests Eivind Aarset, Bill Laswell And More!

Source: hubtone PR

Hu Vibrational's new album mixes deep percussive African rhythms and Afro-jazz with elements of hip-hop and electronica. Recorded and mixed at Bill Laswell’s state of the art studio, this is the fourth album by Hu Vibrational and for those who bought the previous 3 releases this will not disappoint! Produced and mixed by Adam Rudolph together with longtime Laswell engineer James Dellatacoma, the album features 7 world music percussionists along several special guests including Bill Laswell hitting the deep pockets ...

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Interview

Norwegian Guitarist Eivind Aarset Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Norwegian Guitarist Eivind Aarset Interviewed at AAJ...And More!

Source: All About Jazz

In a time when the interactive video game Guitar Hero is selling in the millions, Eivind Aarset is, in many ways, the Guitar Anti-Hero. Despite making music that could easily lend itself to the kind of guitar pyrotechnics that are so often the litmus test of a good player, Aarset's emphasis is on texture, on melody, on groove, and on a kind of collective improvisation that's been reshaping and redefining what jazz can be since he released his first album ...

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Contest

Enter the Jazzland "Eivind Aarset Live Extracts" Giveaway Contest

Enter the Jazzland "Eivind Aarset Live Extracts" Giveaway Contest

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the Jazzland Records “Eivind Aarset & The Sonic Codex Orchestra - Live Extracts“ giveaway contest starting today. FIVE winners will receive a copy of the Norwegian guitarist's latest release. We'll select the winners at the conclusion of the contest on April 28th.

Click here to enter the contest

(Following Eivind Aarset at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at Jazzland Records

About Live ...

Review on Connected by BBC:

The two years since avant guitarist Aarset's last opus, Light Extracts, have been filled with several major shifts in direction. Up until now (at least outside his native Norway), his name's been, err, connected mainly with jazz 'n' bass trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer. Yet, apart from last year's triumphant appearance with Molvaer at the ICA (performing a live soundtrack to Lang's Metropolis), he's been using new, younger collaborators to push his work in fresh directions. Connected bears the fruits of those endeavours.

Two key names in the aforementioned change in direction have been Dhafer Youssef, the Parisian-based singer and oud player on whose album Digital Prophecy he made a major contribution, and fellow Norwegian electronica man-of-the-moment, Jan Bang. It's the latter who makes the biggest impact on Aarset's sound here. While only appearing on a couple of tracks, both his and fellow boffin Raymond Pellicer's digital trickery have led Aarset to tone down his dance-oriented leanings and get a whole lot more subtle in his approach.

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Transneptunian Planets

RareNoiseRecords
2022

buy

Fractal Guitar 3

MoonJune Records
2022

buy

Phantasmagoria, or a...

Jazzland Recordings
2021

buy

Snow Catches on her...

Jazzland Recordings
2020

buy

Trunks

C+C Records
2020

buy

Dream Logic

ECM Records
2013

buy

Electromagnetic

From: Live Extracts
By Eivind Aarset

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