This summer, I was very fortunate to take part in the recording of an amazing new jazz trio live in the studio during a warm May weekend in Oslo.
The inception
So how did it all start? A few years ago, Andreas Pålsson was shopping around for an organ, and he found Tom Erik Ingvaldsen, one of Scandinavia’s foremost experts on Hammond and Leslie restoration. They struck up a friendship, and when Andreas mentioned that he would like to record an album of his own original material, Tom said that he could provide him with a top class recording studio and anything else he would need.
With that in mind, Andreas started thinking about and contacting the musicians he would like to play with, and after getting positive replies from Staffan William-Olsson and Lennart Gruvstedt, he began writing tunes specifically for those performers. When the arrangements reached a mature state, he contacted Tom, and true to his word (after pulling a few strings), he conjured up a studio with a great live room and a truly talented sound engineer named Henning Bortne. The only limit Andreas had on this project was that recording process needed to be done within three days to fit with the schedule of everybody involved.
When Tom, which has been a very good friend of mine for almost ten years, asked me if I wanted to contribute, I volunteered to photograph the action and to help out as an assistant sound engineer when needed. In the end, I spent most of the time hanging around in the live room or the control room, just listening to the performers doing their thing, and it was a truly remarkable experience!
The band
| Andreas Pålsson (organ, composer & arranger)
Andreas studied percussion at the Malmö College of Music, and he is currently the principal percussionist in the Helsingborg Symphony Orchestra. During the last few years he has emerged on the Scandinavian jazz scene playing the organ, and in addition to performing with his own band, he has also played in the Zoltan Csörsz Jazz Trio. |
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| Staffan William-Olsson (guitar)
Staffan is well known for his work in groups like Hawk On Flight, The Real Thing, Staffan William-Olson Sextet and Mezzoforte. He has also established himself as an acknowledged composer and big band arranger. Staffan has released several critically acclaimed albums with his own groups, and he is a sought after guitar player and a creative force in the world of jazz. |
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| Lennart Gruvstedt (drums)
Lennart has been working as a professional drummer and percussionist since 1978. After being employed by the Danish Royal Orchestra, he joined the Danish Radio Big Band. During this period he also played with NHÖP (Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen) and Palle Mikkelborg. Recent projects include Anders Bergcrantz, Tolvan Big Band and more. |
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| Featuring Kåre Nymark (trumpet) and Even Kruse Skatrud (trombone)
Kåre has played with Ytre Suløens Jass-ensemble since 1992, and he has also performed with such artists as Tricia Boutte, Aline White, Earle Hyman and Silje Nergaard. Even has played in several different bands, among them The Real Thing and Funky Butt together with Kåre, and he has done a variety of gigs with artists like Leroy Jones, Clarence Clemonts, Marilyn Mazur and Phil Woods. |
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The sessions
Friday
We all met up at the studio in the afternoon to prepare for the weekend. The first few hours were spent setting up the live room (placing the musicians, instruments and microphones), and preparing the control room (getting to know the SSL mixing console etc.). When that was done, the band played through the five trio songs several times while continually fine tuning the sound and the arrangements. Although everything was recorded, none of the material from that day ended up being used.
The trio: Staffan, Lennart and Andreas (from left to right)
Saturday
This was the hardest day of all the sessions because the band had only 6 hours to record 5 songs with the horns, so we started early. As the day progressed we got a lot of very good takes, but after a while fatigue started to kick in. Thankfully a short dinner break and some great cooking by Tom saved the day, and they got all the five tracks done, quite literally, just in the nick of time since both of the horn players had flights to catch, and they ran off seconds after they had done their last overdubs.
The horns: Even and Kåre + The Trio: Staffan, Lennart and Andreas (from left to right)
Sunday
As a result of some heavy drinking and dancing the night before and the smashing hangover I was blessed with the morning after, I unfortunately missed the first few hours of recording, but when I finally got to the studio, the vibe was great, and the band was in top form. All of the trio songs that they had taped on Friday were redone as a result of the guys being much tighter and more playful, and it was a real treat watching and listening to them jam and exchange ideas all afternoon. After we were done for the day, Tom, Andreas, Lennart and I headed off to a very nice dinner to celebrate!
The super sweet control room + Henning (engineer, left) and Tom Erik (Mr. FixIt!, right)
The result
In total, they recorded over four and a half hours of material for the ten tracks that make up the final album, and Andreas went home to Sweden with the task of picking out the best take for each of them. When that was done after a short hiatus, Henning and Andreas got back in the studio to first edit and assemble each track, and then mix and master the whole album several times over to get it just right, and they ended up doing a great job, just listen for yourself:
“Way Back When”:
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“Britas Birthday”:
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If you want to read more about the upcoming album or the band, please visit the Andreas Pålsson Trio homepage.
Credits
Special thanks to the following people for their fantastic efforts: All the musicians, Tom Erik Ingvaldsen (producer / technician / chef / problem-solver), Henning Bortne (sound engineer, recording, mixing & mastering: Oslo Mastering) and Atle Rovik (sound engineer & studio owner: Steps Music).
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