Terje Rypdal - Terje Typdal (1971)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Terje Rypdal - Bleak House (1968)
Terje Rypdal - After the Rain (1976)
Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous & Jack DeJohnette - S/T (1979)
Terje Rypdal - Descendre (1980)
Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous & Jack DeJohnette - To Be Continued (1981)
Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal, & Jon Christensen - The Sea (1995) + The Sea II (1998)

Excellent second solo album from Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal. Abstract, dissonant, ambient jazz with overtones of dark, queasy psychedelia. "Electric Fantasy" is one of my all-time favorite tracks -- it just has this mysterious, haunting feel that's kinda beautiful, kinda dark, kinda trippy -- and I'd be perfectly happy listening to a two-hour-long version.

Track listing:
1. Keep It Like That - Tight
2. Rainbow
3. Electric Fantasy
4. Lontano II
5. Tough Enough

Silver bird is heading for the sun

Also listen to:

George Russell - Electric Sonata
for Souls Loved by Nature (1969)

John Taylor, Norma Winston,
& Kenny Wheeler - Azimuth (1977)

Ketil Bjørnstad - Åpning (1973)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Ketil Bjørnstad & David Darling - The River (1997)
Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal, & Jon Christensen - The Sea (1995) + The Sea II (1998)

Debut LP from Norwegian jazz pianist Ketil Bjørnstad. Dynamic, expressive, laid-back but energetic pieces colored by the bright, crystalline sounds of guitarist Jon Eberson. Would have sounded right at home on ECM.

Track listing:
1. Kari Danser
2. De Glemte Ting
3. Nærmere
4. Tone L
5. Dedikasjon
6. Det Finnes Hus
7. Klovnen Synger
8. Eftang

Wass fer breakferst?

More like this:

The Gary Burton Quintet with
Eberhard Weber - Ring (1974)

Terje Rypdal -
After the Rain (1976)

Karin Krog, Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow, & Jon Christensen - We Could Be Flying (1975)

Related:
Steve Kuhn Trio - Three Waves (1966)
Steve Kuhn - Trance (1975)
Harry Pepl, Harry Joos, & Jon Christensen - Cracked Mirrors (1988)
Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal, & Jon Christensen - The Sea (1995) + The Sea II (1998)

A solid-gold nugget of space-age jazz. Norwegian singer Karin Krog is front-and-center, while the rest of the band provides a seemingly endless supply of loose, propulsive, hella chill grooves and slowburners.

Track listing:
1. We Could Be Flying
2. Meaning of Love
3. Sometime Ago
4. All I Want
5. Sing Me Softly of the Blues
6. Raindrops, Raindrops
7. Lament
8. Hold Out Your Hand
9. Time to Go

A new kind of light surrounds us all

You should also hear:

Cortex -
Troupeau Bleu (1975)

Kimiko Kasai -
Butterfly (1979)

Jan Garbarek - Esoteric Circle (1969)

Got a request for more Jan Garbarek and Terje Rypdal, so I'm killing two birds with one stone. Esoteric Circle is my favorite Garbarek record, and Rypdal plays on it. Blammo. It's harder-edged, more full-on, dissonant, improv-heavy jazz than the softer ECM sound with which both would soon be associated -- expect pounding drums, screeching sax, and jagged guitar stabs. Produced by George Russell.

Track listing:
1. Traneflight
2. Rabalder
3. Esoteric Circle
4. Vips
5. SAS 644
6. Nefertite
7. Gee
8. Karin's Mode
9. Breeze Ending

There were swallows

You'll probably also like:

David Holland Quartet -
Conference of the Birds (1973)

Edward Vesala -
Nan Madol (1974)

Terje Rypdal - Descendre (1980)

Previously on OPIUM HUM:
Terje Rypdal - Bleak House (1968)
Terje Rypdal - After the Rain (1976)
Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, and Jack DeJohnette - S/T (1979)
Terje Rypdal, Miroslav Vitous, and Jack DeJohnette - To Be Continued (1981)
Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal, & Jon Christensen - The Sea (1995) + The Sea II (1998)

Yet another stellar release from Norwegian guitarist Terje Rypdal. Descendre is Rypdal's most keyboard-heavy work, from eerie album-opener "Avskjed" to the lush, slow-burning "Speil".

Track listing:
1. Avskjed
2. Circles
3. Descendre
4. Innseiling
5. Men of Mystery
6. Speil

From the trees

George Russell - Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature (1969)

Two extended avant-garde jazz workouts led by American pianist George Russell, and recorded in concert in 1969 (the "1968" on the cover refers to when the pieces were written.) Anxious and dynamic, with darkly psychedelic undertones. When my brain is overworked and full of numbers, this is how I relax. Includes early performances from future ECM heavyweights Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek and Jon Christensen.

Track listing:
1. Events 1-2-3-4-5-6-7
2. Events 7-8-9-10-11-12-13-14

Honesty

Harry Pepl, Harry Joos, Jon Christensen - Cracked Mirrors (1988)

By request, here's a nice lil' slice of ECM goodness, featuring Austrian guitarist Harry Pepl, German horn player Harry Joos, and the label's de facto house drummer Jon Christensen. Cracked Mirrors is a bit on the whimsical side, with some great moments of deft, improvisational playing, but there are some more typically icy ECM moments as well.

Track listing:
1. Wolkenbilder 1
2. Reflections in a Cracked Mirror
3. Schikaneder Delight
4. Die Alte Mar und das Mann
5. More Far Out Than East
6. Purple Light
7. Tintenfisch Inki

Like that of sky

Ralph Towner - Solstice (1974)

More ECM excellence, this time from a four-piece group of ECM heavyweights -- saxophonist Jan Garbarek, keyboardist Eberhard Weber, drummer Jon Christensen, and guitarist/bandleader Ralph Towner. While much of Towner's work is placid and sparse, with Solstice, the full-band sound lends a welcome sense of dissonance and unrest to his compositions, leading to one of his most diverse, dynamic, and memorable outings.

Track listing:
1. Oceanus
2. Visitation
3. Drifting Petals
4. Nimbus
5. Winter Solstice
6. Piscean Dreams
7. Red and Black
8. Sand

Distant hills

Terje Rypdal - Bleak House (1968)

Norwegian jazz guitarist Terje Rypdal's first solo album, Bleak House is generally considered an outlier in his discography. It's a diverse, scatterbrained set of songs, only two of which ("Winter Serenade", "Sonority") are in line with the free-form, ambient jazz that comprises the rest of his discography. Otherwise, there's some post-bop ("Wes"), a big-band workout ("Bleak House"), a spine-tingling, vocal-driven, psych-tinged blues number ("Dead Man's Tale"), and a low-key, acoustic outro that reminds me of Milton Nascimento. I would say that it's not the best intro to Rypdal, but it was the first Rypdal record that I heard, and I eventually collected his entire catalogue, so...

Track listing:
1. Dead Man's Tale
2. Wes
3. Winter Serenade
4. Bleak House
5. Sonority
6. A Feeling of Harmony

I tried to live a good life
But now I know that I was wrong

Ketil Bjørnstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal, & Jon Christensen - The Sea (1995) + The Sea II (1998)

Two albums of haunting, dynamic pieces for piano, guitar, cello, and percussion. Bjørnstad's fragile, stately piano themes serve as a base over which Rypdal's guitar soars and Darling's cello weeps, as Christensen (aka the drummer on almost every major ECM release) maintains a nervous tension throughout.

Track listing:
-The Sea-
Twelve tracks, Roman numerals I through XII
-The Sea II-
1. Laila
2. Outward Bound
3. Brand
4. The Mother
5. Song for a Planet
6. Consequences
7. Agnes
8. Mime
9. December
10. South

I
II

Rainer Brüninghaus - Freigeweht (1981)

Icy ECM style jazz quartet led by German pianist Rainer Brüninghaus. Interwoven pianos, synths, flugelhorn, and oboes, backed by a reliably tasteful performance by Jon Christensen. Mesmerizing.

Track listing:
1. Stufen
2. Spielraum
3. Radspuren
4. Die Flüsse Hinauf
5. Täuschung der Luft
6. Freigeweht

One goes there alone