Bridge
Øystein Sevåg
Øystein Sevåg‘s Hearts of Space release extends his fusion of Jazz, Ambient and World music into the Classical dimension. His new direction is more classical and acoustic, extending but retaining the basic fusion concept of jazz, ambient, and ethnic elements on which he has built his career. Sevåg’s Global House Band, Maria Eisenburger, Philharmonia Orchestra of London, an excellent group of German classical musicians. In total, 68 musicians, recorded in 7 studios in three countries.
Album credits
Øystein Sevåg – grand piano, keyboads, traverso flute
Maria Eisenburger – violin, viola
Peter Wettre – soprano saxophone
Ole Marius Melhuus – bass guitar
Ottar Nesje – drums, percussion
Sergio Gonzales – latin percissuin
Paolo Vinaccia – drums, percussion
Bendik Hofseth – tenor saxophone
Eivind Aarset – electric guitar
Lakki Patey – acoustic guitar
Sonia Loinsworth – voice
Zotora Nygård – didjeridoo
Ulli Pfleiderer – Lute
Stefan Lilig – indian percussion
Ulrike Clara Vogt – recorder flute
Miriam Rudolph – violin
Beatrix Hülsemann – viola
Ute Petersilge – cello
Philharmonia Orchestra (London) – 50 string orchestra
Conductor, orchestral session – Terje Mikkelsen
All music composed by Øystein Sevåg, except Cobalt, which is an open improvisation between him and Maria Eisenburger.
Full album credits
Lute and violin on Seed, recorded at Seraphone Tonstudio, Etzenbach, Germaby, by Ulrich Gitschier.
Philharmonia Orchestra recorded at Abbey Road studio 1, London, by Arne Axelberg. Orchestral producer: Andrew Keener.
White Wings was recorded at Berghäuser Kapelle, Freiburg, Germany, by Ulrich Gitschier.
Global House Band sessions recorded at Studio Nova, Spydeberg, Norway, by Robert Oppsal-Engen.
El guitar solo on Seed recorded by Eivind at Hjemme Hos Eivind, Norway.
Paolo Vinaccia’s drums and percussion was recorded at Lydlab, Oslo, Norway, by Frode André Kristiansen.
Additional recording at Bogen Lydstudio, Stokke, Norway, by Øystein Sevåg.
Mixed at Bogen Lydstudio by Øystein Sevåg
Produced by Øystein Sevåg
Hearts of Space presentation
Building bridges
After Øystein left Windham Hill in 1996, there were many suggestions for him to move forward with a simple, not-too-expensive production, such as a solo piano album. However, Øystein had something else in mind. First of all, he had met the German violinist Maria Eisenburger, and wanted to build the next project around her playing. Her background in the classical music inspired Øystein to expose more of his own classical roots.
Soon, he made the bold decision to involve a symphony orchestra in the project and chose one of the finest: the Philharmonia Orchestra in London. The recording took place at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. On the morning of February 9, 1997, Øystein met with the orchestra and conductor Terje Mikkelsen, and just three hours later, the session was complete, leaving him both relieved and satisfied.
The idea was not to replace his former band members with a symphony orchestra; the idea was to expand the palette. So the members of Sevåg’s Global House Band became an important element on the Bridge album.
Through Maria, Øystein also connected with several talented German musicians from the classical tradition, who contributed to several tracks on the album, for example, White Wings.
This album began like a puzzle, with new pieces added along the way as the picture evolved. The music was recorded in multiple phases. It took 68 musicians, across seven different studios in Germany, England, and Norway, before Sevåg felt that it was coming together and could become a finished release.
Bridge was named “Best New Age Album of the Year” in 1998 by AFIM, USA. It was Sevåg’s only release on the Hearts of Space label in San Francisco.