6 CD box set led by drummer Paolo Vinaccia, who is joined by keyboardist Stale Storløkken and guitar legend Terje Rypdal and guests including Palle Mikkelborg and Bugge Wesseltoft.
One of the most ubiquitous drummers in European jazz, with a 100+ album corpus, a singular talent, Vinaccia is a master percussionist in every sense, his ability to express emotional content as well as rhythmic energy is unparalleled. Stale Storløkken is a regular member of such projects as Supersilent, Humcrush and more recently the critically acclaimed Elephant9. Terje Rypdal's guitar style is instantly recognisable, an often dazzling combination of soulful cries and frenetic runs with a startling use of controlled overtones and tremolo. He has been one of the key contributors to Manfred Eicher's legendary ECM label.
With 'Very Much Alive', we are given a rare and beautiful presentation of the combination of these three incredible talents, collectively known most often as Terje Rypdal's Skywards Trio. Each brings their own unique voice to proceedings with an eloquence and panache that rings out with a genuine passion. There are moments of golden warmth, with lush guitar, expansive keyboard and sparkling percussive highlights. These in turn are offset by moments of stark near-minimal clarity, and moments of extreme convolution, yet nothing spills into excess.
Personnel: Paolo Vinaccia (drums, percussion), Terje Rypdal (guitar), Ståle Storløkken (keyboards), Palle Mikkelborg (trumpet), Bugge Wesseltoft (keyboards), Marius Reksjø (bass), Jonas Lønnå (vinyl & sampling)
