logg nummer 150

Eit nummer i rekka av skrift. her frå eit studio eg kjenner godt i sjuande etasje i kongens gate i oslo medan reidar skrur på ein trommegruv som harald har spelt på ein låt som kanskje skal gjevast ut neste år om eg får den ferdig og den har arbeidstittel Sognabad, er dette. godt å vera heime frå turne. den var vellykka. ja. kjennes ut som om kvintetten er i ferd med å få eit slags fotfeste i tyskland. og jobbane i danmark var ei positiv oppleving i forhold til respons. eg syslar med tanken på ny turne neste haust. vi får sjå kva som skjer. sjå kva valg eg tek. der er som kjent mange vegar ein kan gå.
idag er det blå himmel og skarp november. ein klarnar tankane ved å springa. har bestemt meg for å halda fram med det i vinter - om kneet held. neste konsertar er først på eit event kommande helg, så er det bergenstur med familien neste helg og seminar i komprovisasjon, så London, så Nord Norge, så.... juleferie. LAAAAANG :-)

URBS TOUR 08. Day eleven: Leopoldsburg

Again: early on the road and not to much sleep. We all was a bit tired. All these airports and their procedures. How many times have we done what has to be done, and how many hours have I used in my life in airports? When you travel with music-instruments its always much more "heavy" than travelling ordinary. We need a lot more time. And there is much more waiting. Munich - Brüssels flight OK. We made it again and Thomas picked us up and drove us to Leopoldsburg. I got the time to run - for the fifth time on the tour. And I feel very well about it. A culture center was the venue - and it was nice to meet Roger Bouwens again. We did a god last performance - even if we where a bit tired. AND: we got the best lunch on the hole tour, and also a fantastic pasta-course for dinner. Very very very good. The evening ended over a glass of Belgium tapperst beer. Håkon smiled and said it was the best beer he ever had tasted. It looked like we only got four to five hours sleep the last night too. Had to be early on the road to avoid the heavy heavy traficc in Brüssels. There are too many cars. And I want to go home.

URBS TOUR 08. Day ten: Munchen

Photo from Unterfahrt October 2008: Fabian / music-pixx.de
Early on our way to Munchen. Some problem with the flights and check-in - Ingo was not booked in! and I was a bit shaky for some minutes - but we got ticket, and all was OK. Arriving Munchen I had some hours to walk in the city center by myself. Walked down to Marienplatz and watched the busy saturday life. I came by the Pfeifen Huber im tal - pipe shop, and could not resist going in, and off course I came out with a new pipe and some special pipe tobacco. I love those shops - not many left. Pipe smoking is not a growing activity I think.
It was great to meet Christiane and come to Unterfahrt again. Two years since last time. What a great club and great audience. Very special atmosphere. So friendly. Some glasses of wine and a nice chat with Christiane before a short nights sleep - into the last touring day with these guys.
We had much fun: everone had to make a drawing-self portrait. have a look!

URBS TOUR 08. Day nine: Copenhagen, Vanløse

We got a kind of breakfast and went to Copenhagen and Valby: Hotel Fy&Bi, close to Nordisk film. A nice and charming hotel. We had the time to go in to the city. I went to different banks to transfer some money - cash, into my account but it was not possible! Five banks said no - we can not do it, you need an account in this bank etcetera etcetera. Banks? What do they do? I can´t understand this. Have to find how to do it in the future. Vanløse Kulturhus showed up as a good venue. Everything was fine. I´d hoped for some more people but the ones who came was entusiastic. I am very pleased and happy that I did this two first gigs in Denmark with the quintet, and hope some doors will open in the future so that it will be possible to come back.
Who knows. The tour this year has been going so fast. Suddenly it is only two gigs left. Looking much forward to go to Unterfahrt in Munich again.

URBS TOUR 08. Day eight: Hillerød

HILLERØD. ON STAGE
In the tour van for many hours - after a last breakfast and goodbye to Joachim and the people at Salderatzen. The trip to Denmark went fine and we came to Hillerød in time, and was met by Jens Rømer and his nice crew. Klaverfabrikken is a very nice place with friendly music lovers. We had - again - a very good concert and due to that it was the first time I played in Denmark with this band it was very good response. So nice atmosphere the hole evening. We went to Grundvig Højskole late in the night and the accomandation, the rooms did not show up to be the best we´ve seen. To be honest it was bad, and needed to be restored. It was also very cold, but after a bit red wine I guess we all fell asleep -

URBS TOUR 08. Day seven: Salderatzen recordings and concert

What to say? What a day. I am not able to thank everybody who was inolved in this happening at the Herrenhaus in Salderatzen. We did a good concert - and we worked well during the recordings. What an audience. Fantastic. And these fantastic musicians I am lucky playing with. They are.... extraordinary. Played like hell - or heroes. I know we got some takes that are going to be the basic for the new album 2009. So many thoughts running around in my head. It´s late when I write this. I must sleep. Now. More to come....

URBS TOUR 08. Day six: Salderatzen recordings

Building a studio 1
I wake up nine a clock this morning. Slept very very well. Nice, good, real breakfast (scrambled eggs from real eggs and more). Then we got the equipment up to the "dance hall" where recordings and concert will happen. I apreciate the work of everyone here. Musicians. Real musicians - and joachim and Ingo and Thomas. They went to a music shop to rent mixing desk, stands and cables. We got a studio up - and run. That´s not a bad. Good work. And not a bad sounding studio I tell you. We can record. And we did. And I was out running :-)
Building a studio 2

URBS TOUR 08. Day five: Travelling day

The guys kept the spirit all night - but finally crashed in an airplane-seat about 05.30 in the morning taking off from Skopje to Ljubliana. I think they had great fun. We had no problems going back to Frankfurt - and all the way to Salderatzen in Wendland most of us slept in the seat. Arriving in the afternoon I was happy that the musicians seemed to like the place very much. We had some problems concerning the equipment for the recording and so on - but it was solved. We had a nice meal planning the days to come. Extremely early, to be these guys, all went to bed. I had a nice chat with my friend Joachim - who is promoting the concert on wednesday, and is really taking good care of us in all manners. And two dutch puppet actors joined in, before it was time to sleep. I went into "my" blue room. Staying in Salderatzen for the third time. It´s a very quiet and nice place.

URBS TOUR 08. Day four: Skopje

INGO RAU is this smiling, happy, good sound engineer on tour.

In the middle of the night and I just arrived back from the Macedonian Opera House where we had concert. A nice venue. Concert tonight was a bit up and down - for my own playing - but very good response from the entusiastic audience. A good festival the Skopje Jazzfestival. We are very well treated in all ways. Heavy travelling though. We had to go from Erfurt at 5.30 - and we go from hotel here - back to Frankfurt via Ljubliana at.... guess: 04.00. That is threeandahalf hours from now. Say no more. The other guys went on a disco to hear Norwegian club music - drinking Ozo. I wish them all the best ;-) Three hours sleep is not much, but still. It is three hours. Tomorrow is travelling day - maybe we will set up something to prepare for the recording. Who knows. Maybe people are to "destroyed". I look forward to come to Salderatzen anyhow. Good night!

URBS TOUR 08: Day three: Erfurt

Started the day with........ running. I had too. It is some years since the last time I was out running - these cause of many reasons. I am not in very bad shape - because I mainly walk - when I am home in Oslo, not in a good shape either. But the life on tour is much more "not moving your body" activity. So many hours sitting in a tour van, an airplane, airports, backstage, or in restaurants,coffee shops and bars :-). Sitting Sitting Sitting (on stage I move a bit). I decided ahead of going on tour, that a change has to happen - and I started today. A bit proud now, yes. It was good. I managed 25 minutes but took it easy. Remebered it was the first time. I runned in a nice park in Jena call Paradises. Not a bad place to start running.
I like Erfurt. Meister Eckhard use to be here......some years ago.

We played in a house - the Rathouse - where Napoleon - among many other "historical persons" have been. I could feel it. I walked in the city in the afternoon - before I knew, remember what I have read about Erfurt. Lovely warm audience. Something special. To play in that room. I think we did a good gig. Fantastic response. Warm. The band is great ;-)
And very good food afterwards - in SIJU (?) restaurant - where I read on a poster,: next week the Norwegian chef-team will participate in the chef-olympics to be held here in Erfurt - in Siju. I had Flammenkuchen: feuer und flammen! Excellent. And a good glas of white wine. We have to go to Macedonia at 05.30. Heavy work. But great work. I hope I get the change to come back to Erfurt to play concerts again.

URBS TOUR 08: Day two: Jena

A smooth travel - after not too many hours sleep. We drove with drummer Kenneths car to Gardermoen. New rules for overweight luggage: music instruments - so we used some time, but the extra costs for six "small" instruments was reasonable. Short fligh to CPH - then from CPH to Tegel in Berlin. Thomas and Ingo met us at airport, with a very nice Tour van (much better than last year!), with plenty of space, nice seats, and even power supply for our Mac´s. Luxury? Traffic jam - stau, but we reached Jena in time to get a reasonable sound check, sharing stage with Susanna Wallumrød trio at Volksbad. A former swimmin pool where the leader of the festival THomas had learned to swim! Now the pool was the floor for the audience. Very nice venue. Very nice treatment and very nice audience. We all where a bit tired but it was so good to play - and suddenly more than one hour of music was done....... Concerts - being on stage pass by so fast, sometimes. It´s good to be in Germany. I like very much to play here.

URBS TOUR 08: Day One: Oslo

We start final rehearsales today at 10.00, then get in and sound check here in Oslo this afternoon. As always before going on tour I feel I have a lot of things that is not fixed - but finally (tomorrow morning) all things comes out OK. Hopefully. I am really looking forward to the tour, both to present new material and "a new band": Drummer Kenneth Ekornes will join in on this tour beside of Gjermund Silset on bass, Olav Torget on guitars and konting, and Håkon Høgemo on the Hardanger fiddles. On the map the tour does not look as rough as the 2007 URBS tour - and we also have some days of in Salderatzen where we are going to do some recordings. More to come - I have to rush.....

The debut gig went out very fine. The hole band very concentrated and well playing, and also with good help from sound-man Asle Karstad. Some times I feel like old author Henrik Ibsen - he was not too happy about Norway - or norwegians!, and left to Italy, for over twenty years :-). A newspaper in Bergen (city where I used too live) turned thumb down for the DVD. To be honest I don´t care. You have to take the release SPELFERD - a playful journey for what it is! (A "never giving thumbs up" journalist - seems like he always is in a bad mood in his jazzwritings, does nothing good for music anyhow)