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Silent Fires

Silent Fires is a cross-genre intermixture of lyrics and acoustic-electronic fragments, all merged into written and improvised soundscapes. Their debut album #Forests is a collective exploration around the theme of spirituality in its multiple meanings.

The band reunites four young emerging talents from the European improvised music scene: singer Karoline Wallace, trumpeter/soundscaper Hilde Marie Holsen, violinist Håkon Aase and pianist Alessandro Sgobbio.

Silent Fires performs and improvises on stage with contemporary dancer Synne Garvik, offering a multi-art experience of improvised music and realtime choreography.

Silent Fires: Forests

Read "Forests" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
April 27, 2020

Non è solo un affascinante progetto elettroacustico questo debutto del quartetto italo-norvegese Silent Fires, comprendente Alessandro Sgobbio al pianoforte (autore di tutte le composizioni), Hilde Marie Holsen alla tromba ed elettronica, Håkon Aase al violino e percussioni e la cantante Karoline Wallace. In opere simili è molto forte il rischio di cadere in superficialità, eccessi estetizzanti oppure astruse e ridondanti sperimentazioni. Gli undici brani del disco si mantengono invece in esemplare equilibrio tra composizione e libera improvvisazione, canto e poesia, ...

Album Review

Silent Fires: Forests

by John Eyles
January 20, 2020

Silent Fires is a quartet which brings together Italian pianist and composer Alessandro Sgobbio with three renowned Norwegians, violinist Håkon Aase, vocalist Karoline Wallace and trumpeter Hilde Marie Holsen--whose one-woman album Lazuli (Hubro, 2018) was very well received. As the YouTube clip below shows, in concert the four are often joined onstage by contemporary dancer and real-time choreographer Synne Garvik. While the four musicians are all experienced improvisers, their debut album Forests is not freely improvised but consists of eleven ...

A first rate debut album, full of promise for the future. All About Jazz (USA)

A perfect fusion between contemporary acidifications and North-European melodic masses. Musica Jazz (IT) — Album of the month

An album full of suppleness, inventiveness, emotion, abstraction and sensuality. Captivating. Silence and sound (FR)

A very exciting musical excursion with very talented people. A wonderful collective. Nettavisen (NO)

An enchanting sound that ECM boss Manfred Eicher probably would sign for. Jazzradar (NL)

Superbly meditative, immersive - like the most delicate Arvo Pärt. His Voice (CZ)