Bugge Wesseltoft Live at Villa Belvedere

After our De Phazz LP climbed to number 1 in the JPC jazz charts and was even ordered by the German National Library for the archive – a real accolade – the light-flooded Art Nouveau building of the Villa Belvedere in the Rheingau was once again transformed into a mixture of club, recording studio and sound lounge. There, where otherwise hi-fi enthusiasts are inspired by high-quality technology and exquisite lifestyle, the Norwegian jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft started his musical explorations of the unheard-of in front of a tense auditorium. There, where the successful premiere of De-Phazz had taken place a year earlier: The recording of the De-Phazz Jazz Quartet feat. Jo Kraus made it to number 1 in the vinyl charts at JPC!
When you listen to the new live album – analogue and recorded directly on tape by sound engineer Dirk Sommer – you immediately understand that Wesseltoft, born in 1964, deals with the expressive possibilities of acoustic and electronic sounds like no other in European jazz. The large number of his groundbreaking recordings and projects bears eloquent testimony to this – be it in the revolutionary bridge between DJ culture and improvised music, New Conception of Jazz, in unusual duets (for example with singer Sidsel Endresen or techno producer Henrik Schwarz) or in the Scandinavian fusion supergroup Rymden.
With the help of piano, Moog synthesizer and laptop, the curious Scandinavian embarks on a solo journey through uncharted territory on "Live at Villa Belvederre". Apart from a general dramaturgy, he does not prepare anything for his solo concerts, the Norwegian explains his approach. "Everything you hear starts from scratch." What Bugge spontaneously unfolds in front of the listeners' ears thanks to his improvisational imagination is fascinating. One imagines oneself on a journey through time that leads from the bourgeois salon culture of the 19th century to the nervousoscillation of the future.
While Bugge carefully examines the grand piano for its melodic, harmonic and percussive possibilities in the pieces "Don't Stop Searching" and "Keep On Looking", sometimes reminiscent of Chopin or Ravel, he confronts the instrument with a variety of retrofuturistic sounds in "Jazz" and "Travel On" – a ring modulator effect lets a stride piano part with a robot voice sound, handmade drum loops and minimal house meet a synth organ inferno à la Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson. "I love the mix of electronic and acoustic sounds," says Bugge, adding: "I like the friction that comes from it."
In the Villa Belvedere, Bugge found the best conditions for his solo border crossings: a stimulating setting as well as an attentive audience. You can tell that this place serves the goal of listening to music in its purest form, says the Norwegian. Especially in the current time, when the songs in the charts tend to become more and more interchangeable, this is a gift.
This recording is also a great gift, which ends with a version of the jazz standard "Moon River" reduced to its precious essence – a new highlight on the banks of the Rhine.

Features:

• Live recording of the Norwegian jazz star
• Recorded directly on tape in analogue form
• High-quality vinyl
• Analog Mastering

Selections:

Side A
1. Don't Stop Searching
2. Jazz
Side B
1. Keep On Looking
2. Travel On
3. Moon River