Release date: 10 May 2019

Eyolf Dale Piano

André Roligheten Saxophone, Clarinet

Departure is the fourth release in total and the debut on Edition Records from pianist Eyolf Dale and reedsman André Roligheten, two musicians at the forefront of an exciting new generation of Norwegian Jazz. The music inscribed on this album describes a meeting between two old friends; an intimate dialogue between two critically acclaimed jazz musicians with impressive careers of their own; but also a departure: an album that carves a new path for the duo formerly known as Albatrosh.  

Eyolf Dale is no stranger to Edition audiences. He has built a reputation with a strong expressive voice and music that is beautiful, reflective and effervescent.  Eyolf’s two acclaimed albums (Wolf Valley and Return to Mind) with his own octet, (the latter holds the record for a track with the most streams (over 2.2 million as of writing) across the entire Edition catalogue!) sit alongside his sideman duties with Tuba player Daniel Herskedal. André Roligheten is also a member of Eyolf’s Wolf Valley Octet and a regular in Gard Nilssen´s Acoustic Unity.

These two long term friends have been making music together since their mid-teens as Albatrosh and  toured the world, won several prestigious awards and released five critically acclaimed albums. For Departure, the band name has been dropped to allow a renewed focus on their individual personalities within the collective sound. The duo’s focus is calm and direct, drenched in honest expression, centred around an interaction of perfect harmony, a melodic core. These two gifted musicians interact, unafraid of beauty, unafraid of the abstract – without ever losing track of their musical goal. 

This music is poetic, honest and reflective. Its shifting harmonies and long drawn out melodies create a haunting melancholy, a sometimes raw and personal sound. Listen to Just Woke Up and be instantly drawn into its flowing lilt and nuanced poise. 

The duo is a special collaboration for them both as Eyolf Dale explains: ‘This music is about the meeting between two old friends.The result of having worked together for so long makes the music and the collaboration deeply personal and honest. This is reflected in the music first and foremost, in our dialogue based on a democratic and open communication. We strive to make the music transparent and bare. Because of our transparency and stripped down approach to music we manage to dig deeper into our musical and emotional inner worlds. The music is centered on the compositions and makes improvisations and variations based on a set structure”. 

Titles such as Accelerate / Wormhole, Celestial Bodies, Moon Jogger and Crystalline provide a clue to the composing process.  André adds: “Our newest work can be seen as a reflection of ourselves within the grandiose and unpredictable universe: celestial objects being interpreted, such as shaping the structure of one of the songs to the orbit of the moon. Also, how our perceptions change during night and day has been a source of inspiration for the music. Observing a landscape in moonlight creates a different depth and atmosphere than in daylight. The tranquility of the night is perhaps reflected in the music by the sparsity of arrangements and serenity of sound”.

Departure is an album of expression, of poise and deep collaboration. It’s alive with elegance and beauty and stands as a fine addition for fans of music that is honest and self-reflective and able to take you on a journey of deep expression.