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May 8 , 2006
The essential Bjørnstad: Special offer
Ketil Bjørnstad’s career has been an unorthodox one. Schooled as a classical pianist, he made his debut with the Oslo Philharmonic, playing Bartók. After hearing Miles Davis’ “In A Silent Way” and the early recordings of Rypdal, he changed directions and joined the improvisers. Alongside his musical endeavours, he has always written texts -,and his œuvre includes, in addition to many albums, books of fiction, poetry, essays.
Bjørnstad’s most recent novel, titled in Norwegian “Til musikken”, has been translated into several languages and sold well, especially in Germany where it scaled the upper reaches of “Der Spiegel”s bestseller lists as “Vindings Spiel”.
The music Bjørnstad made for ECM between 1993 and 1998 is of enduring appeal, and has been enthusiastically taken up by directors including Jean-Luc Godard, Lea Pool and others for their film soundtracks.
ECM makes available all five of Bjørnstad’s discs for the label now:
"Water Stories", Bjørnstad’s ECM debut, with Terje Rypdal, Bjørn Kjellemyr, Jon Christensen and Per Hillestad.
"The Sea", introducing the quartet with Rypdal, Christensen, and David Darling.
"The River": Highly successful duo disc with Bjørnstad and Darling.
"The Sea II":“troubled beauty, startling chord changes and parallel unison lines, pulling you in.”(L.A. Weekly)
"Epigraphs": Bjørnstad and Darling again, including improvisations on music of William Byrd, Orlando Gibbons, Guillaume Dufay, and Gregor Aichinger.
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