Kongle Trio - Live at Moldejazz (2023) [Hi-Res]

In 2020, a live recording was made at Moldejazz by the piano trio Kongle Trio. A live recording where the listener gets the feeling of sitting in the hall as an audience and witnessing three people who really ooze music. "Live at Moldejazz" is proof of why this band, in a very short time, captured the hearts of large parts of the Nordic jazz scene, and we at Øra love it!

Kongle Trio is the result of three people who were in the right place at the right time. Their meeting at Norway's Academy of Music in 2019 initiated a collaboration for mutual flourishing where they could explore their love and fascination for the trio format together. In each other, they found a space where the music is taken both seriously, but also with playful humor, while the strong focus on a listening and open interaction always comes to the fore. It is in the work to find complete musical freedom and at the same time to be able to compose in real time with other human beings that you find the core of Kongle Trio's music.

The trio draws clear musical lines to Norwegian piano trios such as Maria Kannegaard, Moskus and Close Erase - all of whom have in one way or another continued the American avant garde jazz from the 60s with Carla Bley, Paul Bley and Keith Jarrett. The common denominator is being able to turn the traditional roles on their heads, and let both the melodious and the rhythmic circle around between the three different members.

After convincing both the audience and critics, the trio got off to a "flying" start with concerts both in Norway and abroad. They also participated in the prestigious music competition Jazzintro, where they later ran away with the victory during the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2021. After having several of their attempts to record their debut album destroyed by corona-related events, the idea of giving out the live recording from Molde Jazz Festival came up. It turned out that this was to be the perfect documentation of the trio's sound and core.

Most of the song material is written by pianist Liv Andrea Hauge, who presents a distinctive style with rhythmic and catchy motifs. In the trio's interpretation of the material, the musicians stretch and pick the material apart in order to be able to present it in different guises. There is no doubt that Kongle Trio is a so-called live band, where the songs flourish with the help of large amounts of improvisation and permission to be unfolded from the conditions of the moment. With their debut album, the trio wants to draw the listener into the actual live experience of the band, where they document how they go on stage without having everything prepared.

Liv Andrea Hauge – piano
Øystein Skjelstad Østensen - double bass
Veslemøy Narvesen – drums and saw