#rypdal

Terje Rypdal has a stunningly gorgeous, quite passionate style of playing the guitar, with its most noteworthy aspects being probably the beautiful, otherworldly pitch harmonics and the guitarist’s remarkable use of feedback. And what completes the picture, are the floating synthesizer tones and the electric pianos. The electric guitar tells haunting, beautiful stories, or weeps gently in Terje’s hands. The Norwegian’s music on After the Rain is remarkably calm and peaceful, even though those tracks are by no means devoid of a wide dynamic range. Another thing, that should be taken notice of, is the absence of percussion of any kind. Overall, the record is rather on the ambient side of things, slow paced and quiet for the most part of its length, but also quite ethereal and extraordinarily atmospheric, somewhat mesmerizing for a jazz album. Rypdal’s sound paintings are quite breathtaking and refreshing, somewhat untraditional and innovative even for an ECM style album from the mid-seventies. Although much jazzier and adventurous in character, After the Rain is, indeed, reminiscent of Brian Eno’s ambient works and, to some extent, of the otherworldly, cosmic soundscapes of the Berlin school progressive electronic music. Thick arpeggios and dissonant chords, played on an acoustic guitar, also appear in compositions, such as Now and Then. The title track, on the other hand, is not just the album’s centerpiece, but also the record’s most impressive performance, that best summarizes the record’s somewhat transcendental qualities. After the Rain isn’t really a spacious album though, but rather an ethereal one, a meditation on human emotion and passion, beauty and love. The record has its moments of grief and sorrow, too, of heavenly bliss and ecstatic transcendence. The record takes the best out of Brian Eno’s gorgeous soundscapes that are “not meant to be listened to”, Miles Davis’ and Sonny Sharrock’s jazz fusion and even the French impressionism from almost a decade ago. Terje Rypdal, a true master of expression, here doubtlessly proves himself as one of the most cunning, captivating guitar players of his time, not only in this particular genre. The Norwegian’s explorations into the potential of the instrument, that is the electric guitar, are always interesting to follow and After the Rainis quite possibly the sole highlight of his career. 

Rypdal - Bailey - Cobham - Part3 (Jazz Festival Viersen)

Terje Rypdal