“A piano trio to get truly excited about, a trio for the new millennium”
– **** 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 Oddgeir Berg Trio, who are clearly familiar with a Scandinavian jazz tradition.
The trio’s sound has been called “withdrawn and cinematic.” In this aspect 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, which adds 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 love of jazz and blues drive Audun Ramo’s double bass and the propulsive drum sound of Lars Bentsen 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.
“Electroacoustic jazz with one leg in melancholy and the other in ecstasy.”
