Per Jørgensen & Terje Isungset - Agbalagba Daada (Norcd, 2008) ****½

Great stuff from Norway again, and by two musicians who make pure music from the heart, sounding like the true heirs of Don Cherry - it is open, joyful, in-the-moment, focused on the fun of the performance and the interaction, in the pleasure of the act of creation itself. Per Jørgensen plays trumpet, heriba-ton, tabla, flutes, coupon, vocal, kalimba, percussion, piano and Terje Isungset plays drums, percussion, wood, stones, goat horn, voice, electricians-tube and mouth harp. That says it all - from the world music influences to the "any-object-is-an-instrument" attitude. These two musicians also play as if they couldn't care less about what the world thinks of them or their music, let alone about which music genre this is. The only thing that counts is the music itself.

And that music sounds like an ode to life, an ode to simplicity, to spontaneity, to spirituality, to human interaction. Yet despite the restricted line-up and the full improvisational aspect of the music, both Isungset and Jørgensen manage to remain captivating for the full double CD, creating rich music with a wealth of ideas and approaches. The first CD is more focused on the core instruments : trumpet and drums, while the second has more of the weird instrumentation and vocals in it. But regardless of what they play, this music is so refreshing, so timeless, and so basically natural, with such an admirable sense of innocence, that I'm afraid it will be overlooked.

Yet for me, this is music in its absolute and pure essence.

Listen and download from iTunes.

© stef