About the release
Eskild Okkenhaug Sextet is a young modern jazz band led by the brilliant composer and arranger Eskild Okkenhaug. Their debut album “The Sound Within My Mind” has both beautiful melodies and exciting rhythms, creative instrumentations and great solos. The whole record is also played by exceptionally well-coordinated musicians with incredible skills on their instruments.
A recurring theme of the album is Eskild Okkenhaug’s ongoing search for the music within himself. Over the course of several years Okkenhaug has harvested ideas from a broad collection of music, with the aim to reflect these ideas through his own musical subconsciousness. However, he makes no shame in pointing out to the listeners where some of his ideas came from. This is especially apparent in his choice of including Vijay Iyer´s composition “Nope” on the album, his usage of a motif from Bach´s “Ich ruf zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ” on the song “The Horse Treadmill”, and his interpretation on Debussy’s “Passepied” on the conveniently named song “From Passepied”. For it is as Igor Stravinsky once said “Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal”. With his exceptional care for details and his creative solutions, Eskild Okkenhaug has certainly made “The Sound Within My Mind” a thing of its own.
Eskild Okkenhaug Sextet met each other at the Jazz Conservatory of Trondheim back in 2019, and was a constellation of Okkenhaug favorite musicians. They started out playing the music of Vijay Iyer for well over a year, which Okkenhaug had spent several hours transcribing and writing down. When Eskild Okkenhaug later graduated from the conservatory in 2021, the band debuted at his exam concert playing their own music.
When listening to “The Sound Within My Mind”, it becomes quite apparent that the music is written directly to suit the musicians in the band. Trumpeter Oscar Andreas Haug´s exceptional tone gives the music a sense of warmth and his naturally melodic playing gives the music flow and direction. Alto saxophonist Erlend Vangen Kongtorp navigates through the album’s complex harmonies with a sense of ease. His rhythmical time and feel is at times so good that it is hard to fathom, and this contributes to the album’s complexity. Tenor saxophone Zakarias Meyer Øverli brings raw power and energy to the band, and delivers clear cut ideas and directions on his solos. Pianist Philip Johannes Edwards Granly, an expert of both the classical and jazz repertoire, takes on the role of laying out the harmonies for the rest to play on. His sheer musicality and technical prowess puts a special touch on each of the songs, particularly “The Horse Treadmill” which he co-composed with Eskild Okkenhaug. Besides orchestrating and composing it all, Eskild Okkenhaug puts his heart and soul into each note he plays on the bass. His insisting tone gives both ideas and support to his fellow musicians. Tasked with tying all the loose ends, drummer Rino Sivathas stabilizes the whole band with his delicate touch and rock solid beat.
The album was recorded at Athletic Sound in Halden with the magnificent Dag Erik Johansen. With the usage of individual recording rooms and brilliant recording techniques, the album manages to be equally dry and sonorous. Each instrument has a clear ringing sound and Athletic Sound´s own Grand Piano, the Bösendorfer 225, sounds particularly delightful. The mix done by Dag Erik Johansen himself is thoroughly balanced, and gives every instrument time to shine. The mastering of the album was done by the incredible Karl Klaseie at Øra Mastering. This gave the album an extra richness, making it a thoroughly enjoyable listen.
Musicians
Eskild Sveås Okkenhaug - Bandleder og bassist
Oscar Andreas Haug - Trompetist
Zakarias Meyer Øverli - Tenor-saksofonist
Erlend Vangen Kongtorp - Alt-saksonfon
Philip Johannes Edwards Granly - Piano
Rino Sivathas - Trommer
