Motif (2004) AIM Records

Facienda - Side 2

“The bassplayer, composer and band leader Ole Morten Vågan is a mere 31 years old. Despite of his relatively young age, Brønnøysund´s biggest musical export has already done more than his share - amongst them being one of the most promising musicians in Norway.” Tor Hammerø, Side2 READ THE WHOLE REVIEW
Facienda - Cardboard Music

” The music of Motif is a brilliant mixture of improvised and composed, probably even more developed than their label-mates ‘Atomic’ (a favourite on this blog). Many people talk about the way Ole Morten Vågen mixes classical, jazz and folk together in the compositions, also true for the musicians on here who draw from such [...]
Facienda - Free Jazz

” The music is composed, with discernible themes and structures, beautifully arranged, often slow to mid-tempo, and could mostly be categorised as mainstream jazz with exuberant soloing, but then you have pieces like “The Korean Barbecue Smokeout”, which is crazy, or “Seksten” which is more explorative…a very strong album, and one that will appeal to [...]
Facienda - All About Jazz

“Facienda’s three discs draw a line between where Apo Calypso left off and where Motif 2011 now lives. Motif has always skirted the line between structure and spontaneity, with a general tendency to live on the freer side of the equation, but Facienda shows the group heading for even more expressionistic territory than ever before; [...]

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