Blue

Terje Rypdal and the Chasers - "Blue" - 1987, ECM RecordsTruly a wonderful album full of great compositions, group interplay, and improvisation. "Blue" is the second installment of the Terje's jazz-rock trio with the first being the album simply titled "Chaser," which was released in 1985. To correct Amazon, "Blue" was released in 87 not 86. The album has all of the textural, atmospheric beauty of his earlier works combined with the more hard-edged and in-your-face sound of his jazz-rock music. This is one of my favorite Rypdal albums, but it's not the only album that is worth checking out. I also highly recommend "After the Rain" - 1976, ECM, "Descendre" - 1980, ECM, "Waves" - 1978, ECM, and "Odyssey" - 1975, ECM. All these essential Rypdal albums in my opinion.

BLASTING THE PLANET

I love all of Rydals work with the chaser's band. My only wish is release some of the outtakes. this is a monster album and must have.

Amazing album!!! The music and the sound quality is simply fantastic!!! Get it and enjoy - you will not believe this was recorded in 1986!!!

A great listen to a fluid album. I think this is my fav from him

one of the best records out there ,:)

The music of Blue spreads across a wide field of styles but the overall mood is an uplifting ambient jazz texture approaching softer rock territories at times and at others loosing its jazzy overtones and becoming more ambient in tone. Song number 5 Og Hva Synes Vi Om Det (please try pronouncing this) if taken out of context could be easily classified as an ambient song by Steve Roach, Alio Die or Vidna Obmana or something along these lines. This album spreads a beautiful light climate around you and allows you to focus on the music or to stay unobstructed in its atmosphere alone.I remember when I first heard this music while watching a movie called Heat back in 1996, back when I still watched more than a couple of films a year. The entire soundtrack was interesting but when the only song from this album Last Night started playing I knew I needed to listen to more of it right away. I was familiar with Terje Rypdal back then from his work with Jan Garbarek whose albums I have been listening to for 20 years now. Besides Blue (1987) I guess my favorite albums by Terje Rypdal would be Descendre (1980), Odyssey (1975), After The Rain (1976), Skywards (1997) and a very modern classical ambient sounding Lux Aeterna (2002). To me Blue is a little bit less jazzy overall, and its climate is mellower, very diverse and so unique. If you do like this mood and are looking for other great ambient jazz albums I would definitely point you towards Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays' As Falls Wichita, So Falls Wichita Falls (1981) as well as Keith Bjornstad, David Darling, Terje Rypdal and Jon Christensen and their spectacular The Sea (1995), Both the above albums I consider the best releases coming to us from Manfred Eicher and his spectacular ECM. Thank you so much Manfred for finding your niche and for sharing it with us. I have been going through my collection lately to pull out songs dearest to me, usually the ones spirit of which affects me the deepest, or which I consider of melodic beauty. The following ones are my favorite songs by Terje Rypdal: Multer, Avskjed, Descendre, Waves, I Disremember Quite Well, Lux Aeterna 2nd Movement, Men Of Mystery, Skywards, Charisma, The Return Of Per Ulv, Over Birkerot, QED 4th Movement, It's Not Over Until The Fat Lady Sings, Kjare Maren.

Terje Rypdal's recordings offer the listener an astounding array of styles - ranging from straight-ahead jazz played in small-combo settings to solo outings to mind-bending improvisations to orchestral compositions, and all points in between. His composition and playing and arranging are always tasteful and excellent, and the musicians he selects to execute his works are consistently first-rate. BLUE is no exception, falling into a trio of albums featuring roughly the same personnel, The Chasers - Terje on electric guitar (also adding some keyboard touches on this recordings), Bjørn Kjellemyr on electric and acoustic basses, and Audun Kleive on drums and percussion. The same players appear on Terje's previous album, CHASER, and on THE SINGLES COLLECTION (with the addition of Allan Dangerfield on keyboards). This is one of those delightful instances of musicians being so sensitively attuned to each other that they literally perform as a unit, delivering some astonishingly powerful and well-executed performances.Opening with the short intro track 'The curse', then moving deftly into the powerful 'Kompet Går', the set takes the listener through a breathtaking experience featuring both hard-edged and gently beautiful arrangements. Terje's guitar is the only 'lead' instrument in a traditional sense, but the basses and drums of his bandmates are equally in play here. Listen to the funk-driven string-snapping and sliding chords produced by Kjellemyr on 'Kompet Går', and the incredibly precise percussive bursts from Kleive on the same track - they set the stage nicely for Terje's entrance. His playing, as always, is stunning - listen to his trademark attack-muting, as well as his amazing innate melodic sensibilities...and turn it right up! This is an album that deserves extra volume - not to blast the neighbors, but to experience the dynamic subtleties involved.As I mentioned, Terje has produced a lot of variations during his long and distinguished career - this is a great straight-ahead album to initiate new listeners, as well as (speaking as a long-time fan of ALL of his work) one of my overall favorites in his catalogue. Also check out (besides the other two with this band, mentioned above), ODYSSEY and WHENEVER I SEEM TO BE FAR AWAY (great early works), AFTER THE RAIN (a solo effort, where Terje plays everything), WAVES and DESCENDRE (his earliest work with frequent collaborator, trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg), EOS (an incredible duet album with cellist David Darling) and LUX AETERNA (his latest, one of his orchestral outings). His catalogue, almost entirely on Manfred Eicher's ECM label, is (thankfully) large and varied - and all of it very, very good.

Early Rypdal on ECM... it is good, but to me, a bit dated. Nevertheless, a CD that those who like guitar jazz (ECM issue, with all the quality references that means) and want to hear how Rypdal marks territory in his development as a musician.

To be Honest!!Terje is as unique as one can find his versatility is beyond reproach as is his Musicality akin to his improvisational flair. The original Master

Very good recording.

grande lavoro di Rypdal un disco spettacolare in tutto la qualità dell'incisione e di altissimo livello

Enregistré en 1986 cet album intimiste imprégné comme son nom l'évoque de l'esprit du Blues trouve à mon avis son apogée dans les deux morceaux esquissés de façon magique et qui justifient à eux seuls à mon avis l'achat de l'album: le n'3" I disremember quite well" et l'éponyme n'6 "blue" tous deux d'une puissance d'évocation dans le non dit à faire frémir , sur des mélodies d'une beauté radieuse et évanescente. Et puis il y'a aussi le mystérieux et ténébreux n'4 imprononçable "og hva synes vi om det" où l'on a l'impression d'errer sous le ciel noir de la nuit boréale alors que surgissent ça et là de fantasmagoriques lueurs d'aurores boréales !