When it comes to piano trios, the Espen Eriksen Trio is among the foremost in the Scandinavia. The trio has become known for their melodic minimalism, subtle compositions and beautiful, lyrical moods across the seven albums the trio has released. Star saxophonistAndy Sheppard, for his part, has played with big names such as Gil Evans, George Russell and Carla Bley during his more than 40-year career and also releases records under his own name on ECM.
On the 2018 album Perfectly Unhappy, Espen Eriksen Trio stepped out of the trio format and teamed up with Andy Sheppard. The jazz magazine All About Jazz gave the album 4.5 out of 5 and called the interplay “truly remarkable”. In recent years, the quartet has played to sold-out houses all over Europe.
Together, they create melodic jazz of the highest order that has caused reviewers to bring out the superlatives and compare the quartet to Keith Jarrett and Jan Garbarek’s legendary “Belonging” quartet. Their third, and the trio’s seventh, will be released this autumn. In other words, we will be served music hot off the press from the stage at Fasching this evening.
Espen Eriksen – piano
Lars Tormod Jenset – bass
Andreas Bye – drums
Andy Sheppard – saxophone
