BUGGE WESSELTOFT - Everybody Loves Angels
ACT Records 9847-2
Bugge Wesseltoft (piano)
There are clearly two Bugge Wesseltoft's, firstly the forward thinking fusion genius of the Fender Rhodes, Memory Moog and programming as portrayed in his septet album "Bugge & Friends" reviewed by us in September 2015 . Secondly there is the studied reflective acoustic piano master of his 1997 classic ""It's Snowing On My Piano". It is without doubt that with this recording he has returned, for now at least, to his more traditional way's. Throughout the thirty nine albums that bear his name, and a number that do not, the standard of his musicianship has never faltered.
The ethos for this recording was to provide a sea of calmness and contemplation as a clear refuge from the "who speaks loudest wins" world that we currently live in. To that end the choice of recording venue "The LofotKatedralen", a large wooden church in the Lofoten district of his native Norway proved ideal. The effect over the entire fifty six minutes and eighteen seconds of superlative piano is to allow the listener to cast off the troubles of his or her individual world and to indulge themselves in the exquisite beauty of his piano sound. The mood of almost the entire set is one of low tempo and thoughtful investigation, the only exception, which in this case does prove the point is the more strident approach to the lengthy Paul Simon classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water. Even "Angie" from rock giants Mick Jagger and Keith Richard are given the finely tuned Wesseltoft approach. All the saccharin is removed from Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken" to reveal it's true identity as a new age classic. Even John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix would surely have been both pleased and astounded at the delicate portrayal of their master works. This is an album that can be fully immersed in at the right time and place by any jazz aficionado.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
ACT Records 9847-2
Bugge Wesseltoft (piano)
There are clearly two Bugge Wesseltoft's, firstly the forward thinking fusion genius of the Fender Rhodes, Memory Moog and programming as portrayed in his septet album "Bugge & Friends" reviewed by us in September 2015 . Secondly there is the studied reflective acoustic piano master of his 1997 classic ""It's Snowing On My Piano". It is without doubt that with this recording he has returned, for now at least, to his more traditional way's. Throughout the thirty nine albums that bear his name, and a number that do not, the standard of his musicianship has never faltered.
The ethos for this recording was to provide a sea of calmness and contemplation as a clear refuge from the "who speaks loudest wins" world that we currently live in. To that end the choice of recording venue "The LofotKatedralen", a large wooden church in the Lofoten district of his native Norway proved ideal. The effect over the entire fifty six minutes and eighteen seconds of superlative piano is to allow the listener to cast off the troubles of his or her individual world and to indulge themselves in the exquisite beauty of his piano sound. The mood of almost the entire set is one of low tempo and thoughtful investigation, the only exception, which in this case does prove the point is the more strident approach to the lengthy Paul Simon classic "Bridge Over Troubled Water. Even "Angie" from rock giants Mick Jagger and Keith Richard are given the finely tuned Wesseltoft approach. All the saccharin is removed from Cat Stevens "Morning Has Broken" to reveal it's true identity as a new age classic. Even John Lennon and Jimi Hendrix would surely have been both pleased and astounded at the delicate portrayal of their master works. This is an album that can be fully immersed in at the right time and place by any jazz aficionado.
Reviewed by Jim Burlong
