Hein Westgaard Trio - First as Farce (2023) [Hi-Res]

"It is extremely refreshing (and even surprising) to hear something like this recording, which on first hearing leaped out at me with its freshness and honesty. Few musicians play any more like they have to, like it is a life necessity to perform and improvise, and this project is unusual, to my ears, in that way. It is full of discovery and an honest appraisal of its musical materials, played by musicians who not only care but who show a commitment to the mysteries of form and content. There is a lot of variety on these tracks, and the band is beautifully recorded, in such a way that all the elements of the music are clearly defined and discernable."

- Allen Lowe (excerpt from the liner notes)

The 1st of September 2023 will see the long waited release of Hein Westgaard’s debut album as a leader on the Oslo-based, musician-run label Nice Things Records. The trio met in Copenhagen in 2017, and since then they have deepened and matured their unique form of interplay, preparing themselves for the international stage.

Playing their very own kind of experimental music, Hein Westgaard Trio is clearly inspired by free improvisation and jazz, but also by country, rock, folk and classical music. The trio manages to translate all these elements into a unique form, where the boundary between the composed and improvised becomes blurred.

Hein Westgaard: Guitar, Composition
Petter Asbjørnsen: Double Bass
Simon Forchhammer: Drums

Tracklist:
1.01 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Einstein E.T. Morph (3:36)
1.02 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Year of the Rat: Part I (1:03)
1.03 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Variations on Señor Pint (3:38)
1.04 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Year of the Rat: Part III (3:37)
1.05 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Free-Floating Planets May Be More Common Than Stars (1:29)
1.06 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Asteroid Nightwear (5:41)
1.07 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Potential Harm (1:23)
1.08 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Swineherd Agitator (3:11)
1.09 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Year of the Rat: Part II (0:56)
1.10 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Wayne's Horse Farm (3:30)
1.11 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Year of the Rat: Part V (2:55)
1.12 - Hein Westgaard Trio - Whatever Happened To The Giant Hovercraft SR-N4? (5:15)