In a nutshell

The Clarinuts project

I have been around the world with my horn in the luggage. This project draws from a variety of experiences with musical styles that I love, cultures I have tried to understand, and musicians I have met and with whom I have played. If you listen carefully it might be possible to track influences back to the great clarinet traditions of places like New Orleans, the French Antilles, Castilla, the Jewish klezmer-route, Northern Greece and the Balkans, and the remote hills of Norway too.

The band is a loosely-knit unit. But the line-up will always be chosen among the finest musicians and the nicest people I know. People with a real dedication.

This first record encompasses a great variety of styles, recorded at three different places. Therefore the sound landscapes will vary accordingly. This time the dominating lyrics-language is English, as we have already taken the project abroad. But next time... well, anything can happen. Among all the good people that contributed to this record I wish to mention two especially. This CD features my friend Juan Trabal from Catalunya, Spain. Like me he is a classically trained clarinetist, and the New Orleans repertoire is one of the things that we have in common. I would also like to thank producer and bass player Øyvind Grong, a member of my band Bayou Blue for many years and a true musical ‘broth- er in arms’, for espresso coffee and patience, as well as his usual energy and creativity.