Espen Eriksen Trio - Never Ending January (2015)

Espen Eriksen: Piano. Lars Tormod Jenset: Bass. Andreas Bye: Drums. Worldwide touring and further refining of their already developed signature sound has led to this, their third album. Beautifully recorded and mixed at Propeller Studio in Oslo, the focus is on typically Scandinavian elements such as folk music, melancholia and the deep woods. In that respect it's fair to say that they belong to the same tradition as Tord Gustavsen and the late Esbjörn Svensson, even Jan Johanson in some respects, but without really sounding like any of them. But it's also fair to say that the trio's less is more approach is in stark contrast to many contemporary piano trios, with shorter tunes and strong focus on melodic content. To quote BBC in their review of the trio's previous album "What Took You So Long": A wonderfully plaintive jazz record, abandoned to the lost art of melodic minimalism, stripped back and beautifully near bare. No smoke and mirrors, just the graceful chemistry of superb musicians at the top of their game. Espen Eriksen's musical background is varied, ranging from pop music to jazz and the church organ. He has played with top Norwegian jazz musicians like Bendik Hofseth, Mats Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen and was for three years pianist, arranger and composer for singer Christina Bjordal leading up to her international debut, Brighter Days , for Universal Music in 2006. Bassist Lars Tormod Jenset lived and worked as a musician in Copenhagen for seven years before relocating to Norway in 2007. He is also a member of Hot N Spicy (DK/NO), Bendik Giske Kvintett (NO) and Rodent (ISL). Andreas Bye is one of Norway's most requested drummers in jazz and pop. He was a member of Bugge Wesseltofts New Conception Of Jazz and has played with John Scofield, Joshua Redman, John Taylor, Dhafer Yousef, Nils Petter Molvær,Håkon Kornstad and many others.