Norway has spawned quite a plethora of distinctive musicians that have made it their enterprise to merge musical traditions, often from their respective homesteads, with contemporary expressions, world music and improvisational jazz.Karl Seglem looms prominently among these and he is unquestionably one of the great innovators and visionaries of Norwegian music; reinvigorating both Norwegian traditional genres and jazz with his unwavering will to fuse expressions, pursue crossover ventures and embrace new instruments, sounds and perspectives.His trademark has become the use of goat horns. Both as a wind instrument and also another one called trumpet horn. This has great symbolic power of course, but it is no mere gimmick. The horns present a sound which is both ancient -it was a common thing to play rams horns in Norway in older times- and at the same time avant-garde, due to the musical contexts in which he lets the instrument feature.Seglem's main instrument is the tenor saxophone and he has played an important role on the Norwegian jazz scene. His CD-production counts 23 albums. Already at an early stage in his career he became interested in more diverse and genre crossing perspectives of music. Especially he has been deeply involved with Norwegian folk music and has explored it as a basis for improvisation and composition. For Seglem is much more than an instrumentalist, he has worked widely and diversely as a composer -developing new contemporary forms on the basis of jazz, folk music and more eclectic inspirations- and has also been instrumental to the growth of cross-over expressions and projects as a producer and record label manager.International renown has grown steadily and not least his recent trilogy of solo releases Femstein, Reik and URBS have captivated international critics and audiences. On these records the use of goat horns and other traditional instruments -notably the Hardanger fiddle- is masterly and excitingly blended with a plethora of modern and eclectic elements; electronic loops, jazz improvisation, world music traits and rock characteristics. Seglem often returns to the notion of the acoustic heart of his music, which is the grounded and timeless leitmotif. With this heart intact electronic elements and engineered sounds, as well as genre-specific traits, create a dynamism that is reciprocally enhancing.
(txt: MIC)
More: www.karlseglem.no
Edvarden (live in Nantes)
