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Artist: Trygve Seim - Frode Haltli
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Trygve Seim - Frode Haltli:

Our Time

On Our Time saxophonist Trygve Seim and accordionist Frode Haltli rekindle their longstanding partnership (the duo will have played together a quarter century in 2025) in a programme of thought-provoking improvised and composed material, the Ukrainian lullaby “Oy Khodyt’ Son, Kolo Vikon” and North-Indian traditional “Shyama Sundara Madena Mohana”, following up their 2008 duo album Yeraz with a freshly invigorated sense of wonder and creativity. The Norwegians’ recorded collaboration goes back to Trygve’s The Source And Different Cikadas ensemble from 2002 and has since spawned many a fruitful venture, yet in this intimate setting, increased freedom and dynamic possibilities give rise to even more playful, inventive but also fragile playing. And, as Downbeat magazine commented on their last joint effort, here even more “the improvisations unfold with exquisite care, in lines steeped in melancholic beauty and sometimes glimmering hope.”

“In a way this recording reflects the fact that in concerts we play as much freely improvised as composed music,” says Frode. “And we also approach the written music, or traditionals, with a lot of liberty – oftentimes we’ll just use fragments of known material and go from there. Since we’re mainly improvising, we can’t know exactly where we might end up, so the respective compositions could just as well be considered little triggers for improvisation.” Trygve – confirmingly – notes, “I have the impression that the freedom and joy this kind of interplay allows is as dear to Frode as it is to me.”