Jacob Young - Forever Young (2014) [Hi-Res]

Following Sideways and Evening Falls, for his third ECM outing Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young is joined by the saxophonist Trygve Seim and the trio of star Polish pianist Marcin Wasilewski. Recorded in Oslo's Rainbow Studio in August 2013, Forever Young is even more warm, lyrical and joyous than its predecessors and clearly shows his development as a writer of buoyantly melodic material.

One of the most exceptional musicians to have emerged from Norway in the past decade, Jacob Young is a bandleader, improviser and jazz composer whose sensibilities have been shaped both by the history of the music as it has unfolded in the North and by his deep knowledge of the American jazz tradition, studied also at first hand.

Born in Lillehammer in 1970, Young was introduced to jazz by his American father, taking up the guitar at the age of 12. After studying music at the University of Oslo, he received a scholarship to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan. "At the New School I played in Jim Hall's ensemble and took guitar lessons from him. Those were decisive experiences and I was really lucky to have had that chance. Jim Hall has been a guiding inspiration for my playing." There were also studies with John Abercrombie: "He taught me that there are hard and fast rules, for everyone, when playing music, but you can break the rules."

Producer Manfred Eicher first heard Young playing live with old school friend Trygve Seim's group at the Blå Club in Oslo in the late 1990s. Seim, himself a leading ECM recording artist, is reunited with Marcin Wasilewski and bassist Slawomir Kurkiewicz with whom he memorably performed on drummer Manu Katché's album Playground.

Jacob Young (guitar)
Trygve Seim (tenor and soprano saxophones)
Marcin Wasilewski (piano)
Slawomir Kurkiewicz (double bass)
Michal Miskiewicz (drums)