Rubber Soul Quartet - Blackbird (2020)

According to Paul McCartney, the classic guitar accompaniment for “Blackbird” was inspired by J.S. Bach’s “Bourrée in E minor”, a beautiful lute piece that he and George Harrison tried to learn on guitar as teenagers.

Rather than baroque music or American standards from the 1930s, 40s and 50s, this record consists of English standards from the 1960s. All but one are made by one of music history’s most influential songwriter partnerships. The compositions are from Liverpool and London, but distilled in New York and Rio, and bottled in Oslo.

Making jazz versions of these timeless songs could perhaps be considered musical blasphemy. But that is what Rubber Soul Quartet has chosen to try to do, because much of The Beatles’ repertoire is well suited for jazz musicians to play with, perhaps especially for those who enjoy a range of different styles from swing, soul, funk and bossa nova, to… The Beatles.

Rubber Soul Quartet are particularly fascinated by the strong melodies, the harmonic moods and the rhythmic drive of the songs. With respectful reference to the original melodies, the quartet play their re-arranged jazz interpretations in a collective way, where 9 of 11 tracks are instrumentals. The goal is not to copy, but to improvise and swing; to disassemble the musical building blocks – and put them back together again.

Hope you like it!

Torstein Ellingsen

Bård Helgerud guitars & vocal
Håvard Fossum soprano & tenor saxophone
Andreas Dreier double bass
Torstein Ellingsen drums & percussion