Early morning in wonderful Molde, Norway, yesterday. En route for twelve days. First Copenhagen, then Molde. Just returned via Oslo and Copenhagen. Arrived in steamy Amsterdam.
On my way back heading Oslo
In retrospect
COPENHAGEN: in search of a festival. During ten days more than thousand concerts there
MOLDE: in search of the magic of this place for/of music
Molde situated in the Romsdal region between Ålesund and Kristiansund was also place of this years’ Jazz Expo program of Norwegian jazz. Together with Ljubljana in Slovenia
– which started one year earlier in 1960 – Molde was a forerunner. These are the two oldest jazzfestivals in Europe. East and west, south and north, both on the periphery, both with a legendary history.
Now the festival in Molde finished, birds and cars have taken it over with their music. The seagulls are really loud but way up the mountain, bird sound becomes nicely varied, mingling with kids’ voice and rustle from the road down at the fjord. On my last day: bright sun, blue sky, kühle Brise, cool breeze, moderate temperature – perfect summer day. On top of the mountain long shadows of the trees. On the water of the fjord the white-blue ferries are crossing. Visible from here at near distance the small island Hjertøja with Kurt Schwitter’s hut. Schwitters merzed the hytta (hut) up during the nineteenthirties. And there was plenty of space around for Ludwig Wittgenstein to swim.
I am not an I-padler yet, posting thoughts on the spot, spontaneous reactions etc. on the site here immediately. You can find me on Facebook. I posted on Facebook regularly during being en route. I am in between, the old and new way of writing, the quick and the slow. Here’s a retrospective account of en route SOMMERVEIE in – with some inserts interspersed.
EN ROUTE SOMMERVEIE: Copenhagen – in search of a festival
EN ROUTE SOMMERVEIE: Talks and (semi)interviews
drummer and pianist Emanuele Maniscalco,
pianist Nikolaj Hess,
saxophonist/composer Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard,
drummer Peter Bruun,
pianist Simon Toldam,
ILK label-manager Eva Frost
pianist Karsten Dahl
Match&Fuse festival-organizer, Vafongool label manager Eirik Tofte
live-electronics master Jan Bang
Molde festival director Jan-Ole Otnæs, Molde festival volunteers Knut Inge Tho and Hans Christian Tho
EN ROUTE SOMMERVEIE: Molde – in search of the magic of a musical place Orchestral day – Different horses – Sangam rites and Rypdal rides – Into large’s and two’s – Transitions and transformations – Melodic orbits, melodic outbursts – Between heaven and earth