Global House
Øystein Sevåg
In 1994 Øystein Sevåg further builds his reputation with Global House as one of the most daring and distinctive creators of contemporary instrumental music. Sevåg weaves a brilliant multi-cultural tapestry, integrating musicians and influences from Europe, Brazil, Cuba, Africa, and Australia. This album fuses intricate layers of jazz, classical, ambient, and world music into a dramatic soundscape that denies classification. All the music for this album was composed, recorded and mixed in three months, and finished in March 1994.
Album credits:
Øystein Sevåg – keyboards
Bendik Hofseth – sax
Lakki Patey – acoustic guitar
Nils Petter Molvær – trumpet
Rune Arnesen – drums
Sergio Gonzales – percussion
Zotora Nygård – didjeridoo
Lex van Someren – gong
The Vertavo String Quartet:
Øyvor Volle – violin
Berit Værnes – violin
Nora Taksdal – viola
Bjørg Værnes – cello
All music composed by Øystein Sevåg
Full album credits
Recorded at Bogen Lydstudio, Stokke, Norway Jan. – March. 1994 by Øystein Sevåg
(except sax and trumpet tracks on “Global House” and “Thundernight”, recorded at Waterfall Studio by Kai Robøle).
Mixed by Øystein Sevåg at Bogen Lydstudio.
Mastered by Chris Bellmann at Bernie Grundman Mastering, Hollywood, CA.
Graphic design: Curtis Design.
Studio assistant in Bogen Lydstudio: Yngve Tetlivold.
Special thanks to Steve Yanovsky and Bjørn Standal, John Vernile and Bob Duskis.
The expansion of live instrumentation
Although the subdued duo album Visual was released immediately after Link, Global House constitutes the true successor to Link. On this recording Sevåg further developed the synthesis of engaging rhythmic patterns and pronounced melodic lines, underpinned by a harmonic foundation rooted in Western art music.
The principal distinction from Link lies in Sevåg’s broader integration of live performers, accompanied by a deliberate reduction in the reliance on synthesizers, samplers, and MIDI technology. Programmed percussion is replaced by real people on Global House: Rune Arnesen on drums and Sergio Gonzales on Cuban percussion.
Likewise, a considerable share of the synthesized textures is this time supplanted by Norway’s foremost string quartet of the period, the Vertavo Quartet. On the album’s title track, Sevåg introduced, for the first time, his close associate Zotora Nygård on the didjeridoo, an ancient Australian instrument which, in 1994, was still relatively unknown within jazz and world music contexts.
The album also exhibits more explicit elements of Norwegian folk music than in his earlier work, most notably in the composition Norwegian Mountains