Dans Les Arbres at Jazz Central Studios

This quartet stems from work that Ivar Grydeland and Ingar Zach began in duo toward the end of the twentieth century. Grydeland and Zach established the label SOFA, performed as a duo, and started several ensembles in which the two worked with musicians from the European improvised music scene. The duo passed through several stages, but their music really took shape while Grydeland and Zach were studying for their Master’s degree in Chamber Music at the Norwegian Academy of Music between 2001 and 2003. Those studies focused exclusively on their own compositions and improvisations. Around the time they gave their graduate concerts, Christian Wallumrød’s “Sofienberg Variations” (ECM 1809) was released. Grydeland and Zach felt that Wallumrød’s music was related to their own. Seeing a possibilty for musical cooperation, they invited Wallumrød to participate in rehearsals and concerts. This work led Grydeland and Zach to record with Wallumrød....

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This quartet stems from work that Ivar Grydeland and Ingar Zach began in duo toward the end of the twentieth century. Grydeland and Zach established the label SOFA, performed as a duo, and started several ensembles in which the two worked with musicians from the European improvised music scene. The duo passed through several stages, but their music really took shape while Grydeland and Zach were studying for their Master’s degree in Chamber Music at the Norwegian Academy of Music between 2001 and 2003. Those studies focused exclusively on their own compositions and improvisations. Around the time they gave their graduate concerts, Christian Wallumrød’s “Sofienberg Variations” (ECM 1809) was released. Grydeland and Zach felt that Wallumrød’s music was related to their own. Seeing a possibilty for musical cooperation, they invited Wallumrød to participate in rehearsals and concerts. This work led Grydeland and Zach to record with Wallumrød.

Parallell to their duo, Grydeland and Zach were also working with bassist Tonny Kluften in a project-based ensemble with the obscure name, No Spaghetti Edition. The core of that ensemble was originally Zach and Kluften, but Grydeland gradually became an equal member. The ensemble core invited guest musicians from diverse genres to join their CD releases, tours and concerts, with a constant focus on large-ensemble improvising. Wallumrød took part in one of the earlier projects. In 2003, No Spaghetti Edition released their third CD (“Real Time Satellite Data”, SOFA513). On this release and on the following tour and concerts, French clarinettist Xavier Charles was a guest. Grydeland and Zach were impressed by Charles’ music. Feeling he could enhance the work that began with Wallumrød, they invited him to rehearsals.

In early July 2004 they had their first meeting as a quartet. Though it was successful, they weren’t able to meet again until 16 months later. That time, they met for another project with No Spaghetti Edition—recording the CD “Sketches of a Fusion” (SOFA520) with Tonny Kluften and the Canadian improviser, Martin Tétreault. Although the focus on “Sketches of a Fusion” is clearly different from “Dans les Arbres,” working with “Sketches of a Fusion” and playing concerts with this material and this lineup inspired them to continue their work as a quartet.

In July 2006 Charles, Grydeland, Wallumrød and Zach met again. This time to work on a band sound and to compose music for their first release called “Dans les arbres” – which also is the introduction of the quartet by the same name: Dans les arbres. Since then the band has been touring in Europe, North America and Japan as a quartet. Dans les arbres have also performed with guest musicians such as Yumiko Tanaka, Otomo Yoshihide, Jim O´Rourke and the young Norwegian duo Vilde & Inga.

In 2010 Dans les arbres started recording material for the 2012 release «Canopée» – also on ECM.

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