Neuguitars 2025 #4 The Powerful Alchemical Union of Elephant9 and Terje Rypdal - Catching Fire

Rune Grammofon, 2024

Recorded live in Oslo during the Nasjonal Jazzscene in 2017, Catching Fire is the first gem of 2025 for my music collection. Produced by Norwegian independent label Rune Grammofon, this album showcases the collaboration between Norwegian jazz-prog trio Elephant9 and legendary guitarist Terje Rypdal. The result is a captivating and hypnotic sonic experience.

Elephant9
Founded in 2006, Elephant9 is a Norwegian progressive-psychedelic jazz-rock band renowned for its energetic and experimental style, blending elements of jazz, psychedelic rock, and 70s prog. This high-intensity power trio features keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, celebrated for his work with groups like Supersilent; drummer Torstein Lofthus, known for his versatility and precision; and bassist Nikolai Hængsle, whose powerful grooves enrich the band’s dynamic sound.

Terje Rypdal
What more can be said about a legend?

“Rypdal è un innovatore aperto all'esplorazione e lo dimostra fin dagli inizi. Dopo le esperienze rock di Bleack House, grazie all'incontro con George Russell si dedica sempre più alla musica contemporanea e, attraverso lo studio con Finn Mortensen, alla composizione: è attraverso questo percorso che arriva a pubblicare Q.E.D., tra i momenti più alti della sua carriera. Rypdal è però anche l'ispiratore di quel suono che a metà anni Ottanta il giovane Sven Persson andava cercando, e che trova una sua forma chiara e inconfondibile con il trio Chaser.”

"Rypdal is an explorer and innovator, as evident from his earliest works. After his rock beginnings with Bleak House and through his encounter with George Russell, he delved into contemporary music and composition under Finn Mortensen’s mentorship. This journey culminated in works like Q.E.D., a career high point. Rypdal also inspired the distinct sound that, by the mid-1980s, young Sven Persson sought and refined with the trio Chaser."

—Luca Vitali, Il Suono del Nord, Auditorium, 2081, pp. 258-259

A guitarist, composer, and musician of unparalleled influence in Scandinavian and international jazz, Rypdal’s unique style combines elements of jazz, rock, contemporary classical, and ambient music. Initially inspired by 60s rock, including Jimi Hendrix, Rypdal developed an innovative approach to the electric guitar, transforming it into an instrument capable of evoking vast, hypnotic soundscapes, especially in his ECM recordings, which helped define that label’s signature sound. His classical training also led to orchestral compositions and collaborations with major ensembles worldwide.

Catching Fire

Released in 2024, Catching Fire is a journey through adventurous soundscapes, an explosive fusion of jazz, progressive rock, and psychedelia. As a longtime admirer of Rypdal’s guitar work, I’ve always wanted to own all his albums. However, his ECM records sometimes left me ambivalent due to their excessive reverb and a certain overindulgence, which, while evoking expansive Nordic vistas, occasionally felt overly polished.

This album, however, integrates Rypdal’s guitar seamlessly into the powerful and dynamic sound of the Elephant9 power trio. His aggressive passages and sharply distorted, rock-infused solos are precisely what the ECM albums lacked.

The album’s tracks unfold with the unpredictability of jazz improvisation, coupled with the tension of psychedelic rock and the structure of progressive music. Pieces like I Cover the Mountain Top and Dodovoodoo stand out for their explosive energy, with Lofthus’ hammering drums and Hængsle’s solid, precise bass lines providing a robust foundation for Storløkken’s Hammond flights and Rypdal’s guitar inserts. Rypdal’s role here is that of a collaborator who knows how to shine without overshadowing his bandmates.

There’s a sense of ongoing dialogue between the musicians, with every note acting as a response or provocation to another. The music channels the spirit of Miles Runs the Voodoo Down, exuding a wild alchemy and prodigious interplay reminiscent of the early electric jazz years played by Davis's groups. It also brings me to mind the 6-CD box set released in 2010 by Jazzland Recordings under Paolo Vinaccia’s name, where Rypdal unleashed his most rock-infused and untamed creativity.

A must-have for fans of experimental jazz and avant-garde rock. We need more and more.