Beim Label heißt es: “‘Hva nå, Ekko?’ (‘What now, Ekko?’) tells the story about Ekko that is unhappily in love with Narcissus. She follows him wherever he goes, and has neither her own thoughts or opinions. After a while it feels meaningless, and Ekko starts to wonder what happens if she stops to repeat what other people say. What shall she say then? And does she need to follow Narcissus that anyway just cares about himself? The music explores Ekko´s feelings and possibilities, and the

unpredictability of the improvisational music is a parallel to an echo that speaks freely. What happens then? ‘Hva nå, Ekko?’ is a commissioned work by Liv Andrea Hauge, written for Festspillene i Helgeland 2022. The ambition behind the work is based on exploring improvisation in a bigger jazz ensemble. Composed by Liv Andrea Hauge, it´s performed by some of the foremost young jazz musicians on the Norwegian stage: Ragnhild Moan, Signe Emmeluth, Torstein Lavik Larsen, Marte Eberson, Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson and Andreas Winther.

Drawing on Liv Andrea´s compositions and collective improvisations, the work appears as a collective project colored by tight interaction, and through the hour long work it´s notable how much the musicians enjoy playing with each other”. Das Album erscheint als Doppel-LP, CD und zum Download bei ODIN Records.

Fotos © Anne-Kari Myrvik und Michael Schult Ulriksen