Pat

** Ltd. 100 copies ** "Supergolden" is the name of Petter Asbjørnsen’s debut album featuring Kjetil Møster on saxophone and bass clarinet, and Øyvind Skarbø on drums. Møster and Skarbø are prominent figures in the Norwegian jazz community, known from ensembles such as Zanussi 5, 1982, Skarbø Skulekorps, Møster! and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Stints living in Bergen, Copenhagen, Berlin and New York informed Asbjørnsen’s work as a composer and performer in projects with Molecules and Erlend Skomsvoll, Thomas Dahl, Elias Stemseder, Emilio Gordoa, Dag Magnus Narvesen and Axel Dörner, and lead him to perform in settings ranging from symphony orchestra to piano trio. "Supergolden" marks his first independent release.

The trio “Pat” was created while Petter Asbjørnsen was living in Bergen. Here he became an important and versatile figure in the music community, simultaneously performing as a jazz musician and studying contemporary music and classical contrabass. Asbjørnsen authored all the compositions on the album, and they’ve been brought to life through Møster and Skarbø’s interpretation and elaboration of the compositional ideas. With each musician’s individual and strong artistic expression, “Pat” offers a raw, explosive, and dynamic experience that grabs the listeners attention from start to finish. "Supergolden" is a strong addition to the rich free jazz tradition of Norway where compositions are used as a stepping stone for improvisation without locking the performers into one idiomatic expression.

"Pat is a new Norwegian, Bergen-based power trio, led by double bass player-composer Petter Asbjørnsen, who splits his time between playing contemporary music and modern jazz and featuring two local heavyweights – reeds player Kjetil Møster and drummer Øyvind Skarbø. Pat’s debut album «Supergolden» was conceived by Asbjørnsen as a raw, explosive sonic experience «that grabs the listener’s attention from start to finish», where «compositions are used as a stepping stone for improvisation without locking the performers into one idiomatic expression». The charismatic, powerful voice of Møster, on the tenor sax and bass clarinet, is the first thing that attracts the attention, but immediately afterward, the totally open, muscular flow of Asbjørnsen’s compositions. The nine compositions do not explore complex ideas but rather focus on the expressive voices of Møster, Asbjørnsen, and Skarbø and are based on an open, fast-shifting rhythmic basis. Skarbø do spirals Pat interplay higher to deep space with his massive drumming on «Creel», but his sparse, modest playing on the lyrical «Warehouse» opens the interplay to more fragile and emotional tones. In a similar manner, Asbjørnsen’s thoughtful bowing and pizzicato work cement the lyrical, chamber atmosphere of the last pieces «Paternity» and «Mildly Frazzled». Two more pieces, the title-piece and the following «Scheme», mark «Supergolden» gravitating towards the legacy of European and now also the Nordic high-octane free jazz. These pieces highlight the tight interplay of Pat, how strong is its rhythmic basis where Pat already sounds like an experienced, promising working trio." - Eyal Hareuveni / Salt Peanuts