Morten Qvenild - Personal Piano (2015)

For the past 15 years pianist and keyboardist Morten Qvenild has been one of the most creative musicians in the Norwegian music scene. Qvenild has both an unusual flair for pop and a passion for experimentation and improvisation. Now, at last, his long-awaited solo debut album has arrived.

Qvenild is probably most well known as a member of the unusual piano trio In the Country, half of the duo sPaceMonkey with drummer Gard Nilssen, and Susanna Wallumrød’s partner in Susanna & the Magical Orchestra, but he has also played in a number of other bands. Altogether Qvenild has appeared on at least 50 albums with artists such as the National Bank, Solveig Slettahjell Slomo Quintet, Susanne Sundfør, Arve Henriksen, Thomas Dybdahl, Marit Larsen, Nils Petter Molvær, Shining, Jaga Jazzist, Frida Ånnevik and Trinity as well as many others.

For the past few years Qvenild has been working on developing “the HyPer(sonal) Piano”. By integrating various types of electronics into the grand piano he has radically expanded the instrument’s sonic palette. The inventive tunes and improvisations on his solo debut, “Personal Piano”, create a platform that highlights a unique and heavily processed world of sound and a remarkably intense musical idiom. The music is primarily instrumental, but Qvenild also sings on a few tracks.

The music on “Personal Piano” is the sum of Qvenild’s personal interests combined with a wealth of sources of inspiration: a catchy melody, birches, noise, restlessness, snow, James Blake, words, wood, Radiohead, plastic, running, the abrupt, the child, the pine tree, melancholy, Frode Grytten, travelling, travelling too much, not travelling, travelling to the wrong place, a cabin, ashes, Olivier Messiaen, Hans Børli, not knowing, metal, electrons, euphoria, contemplating, skis, underground, Murakami, kayak, country, in the country, the dark chords and the shimmering light.

The album was recorded and produced by Morten Qvenild himself at the Green Room, and mixed and mastered by Jørgen Træen.