Notes from Rune Grammofon HQ

Another ECM guitarrero from the old days, an archetypal Nordic one, reappearing on a Rune Grammofon album in a live setting with his old compadre Stale Størlokken, and Elephant 9. Click HERE: and you’re becoming witness of two trips on memory lane, a story told by Steve Tibbetts, and a regular Würzburg summer night ritual from the mid-seventies, with M.E. …

CD in 6-panel digipac or double vinyl edition in stunning gatefold sleeve!

Liner notes by David Fricke

Elephant9 established their reputation as a live powerhouse well before their album debut in 2008 and have since released six more studio albums as well as the two double live albums in 2019, Psychedelic Backfire Iand II, the latter with guest guitarist Reine Fiske, whose favourite guitarist happened to be Terje Rypdal. With both albums out of print, Catching Fire is a most welcome addition to their discography. Recorded at a remarkable concert from 2017 in Oslo, Rypdal would turn 70 later in the year.

Catching Fire share common ground with classic live albums from the likes of Mahavishnu Orchestra, ELP and King Crimson, especially when it comes to energy levels and a sense of untamed intensity. That said, there are also stretches of calm at play here, especially in the 22-minute opener where Rypdal introduces himself with some trademark, glacier melodic lines. Rypdal is on fire throughout, adding lead action, fierce rhythm work and abstract acrobatics from his toolbox.

Terje Rypdal´s main body of work is with ECM, first as a member of Jan Garbarek Quartet (Afric Pepperbird, 1970) and with his first solo album Terje Rypdal (1971), all in all counting some 30 releases up to Conspiracy(2020). Ståle and Terje share a common musical understanding, stemming from Ståle being the guitarist´s “right hand” both in the studio and on stage for close to 30 years. Torstein and Nikolai is the most solid of rhythm sections, a well-oiled engine; finesse and power combined. (Rune Grammofon HQ)