Espen Eriksen Trio & Andy Sheppard - Perfectly Unhappy (2018)

"I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016. Since then we've had a chance to grow the music with tours in Korea and Norway, before Espen wrote a set of fantastic tunes for the recording session in Oslo. They played themselves and we had a ball recording, everything clicked and in two days we had made a very special album". Andy Sheppard Espen Eriksen Trio was formed in 2007 and released their first album in 2010. Since then they have released two more records on Rune Grammofon, and toured in 16 countries across four continents. The music relies on highly melodic and lyrical instrumentals and a 'less is more' approach and is often credited for its unique voice within today's jazz scene by the international press. To quote BBC in their review of the trio's second album; 'A wonderfully plaintive jazz record, abandoned to the lost art of melodic minimalism, stripped back and beautifully near bare. No smoke and mirrors, just the graceful chemistry of superb musicians at the top of their game' The aptly named "Perfectly Unhappy" features eight new songs by the pianist, all written with this collaboration in mind. These are enchanting and lyrical tunes, often melancholic and uplifting at the same time and will surely speak to followers of both the trio and Sheppard and attract many new ones. With a career spanning over four decades, working together with the likes of George Russell and Gil Evans, Andy Sheppard is truly one of Europe's leading saxophonists. Lately, his main focus has been with his own quartet and the trio with living legends Carla Bley and Steve Swallow, both acts recording for ECM. Eriksen's background is ranging from jazz to pop music and the church organ, while Jenset lived and worked as a musician in Copenhagen for seven years before relocating to Norway. Andreas Bye is one of Norway's most requested drummers in jazz and pop and has played with Bugge Wesseltoft, John Scofield, Joshua Redman, Dhafer Yousef, Nils Petter Molvær and many others.