50 Years of Terje Rypdal ECM Albums (1971-2020)

[@philjm3103]

Jeff, what a treat! I'm off to bed now, so I'll have to save this until tomorrow.

[@CalicoSilver]

I so much enjoyed making this video, Phil. It was literally just a spontaneous thing. I went down to my "man cave", started looking for a Terje CD to play, and decided to make the video on the fly. I'm not sure why I've never done it before. Haha!

[@garyh.238]

Great presentation of Terje's various works. I knew he was prolific, but didn't realize how much so! I am always on the lookout for his ECM-related releases, but they're hard to come by. Saw Terje play in Hong Kong in 2004 and had a nice chat with him after the show.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thank you! I’m happy that people enjoy this run-through of Terje’s ECM discography. He’s a one-of-kind musical maestro. Cheers! Jeff

[@JeanfiC]

Love Terje Rypdal ! Thank you very much sir for this very interesting video.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thank you, Jeanfi. Jeff

[@basicsforbaroqueimprovisation]

Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away has remained a favorite for decades. Haunting and timeless - Thanks for the great review ! Best Wishes - John

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks, John!

[@northcarolinavinylpicker]

Great video. I just started listening to him.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks! Hey, I'm in North Carolina also. In the Waynesville area, if you know where that is. Good to hear from you. Cheers! Jeff

[@northcarolinavinylpicker]

I live near morganton or hickory off of 40

[@tutunundyosun]

Thanks for the information. This has been a good guide to Rydpdal for me.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks. I am so happy people are enjoying my Rypdal videos. Cheers! Jeff

[@Avalonrick1]

I could not find the review of Michael Mantler - The Hapless Child (And Other Inscrutable Stories) ? A personal favorite of mine. I very much appreciate your videos . Have only recently discovered your channel. Thank you

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks. I think I removed the video The Hapless Child. Yes it is a marvelous album. My video primarily told the story of how hard and expensive it was for me to obtain the CD back in 1990, but it was worth every penny.

[@vinylizingprogger]

This is a fabulous topic! Wonderful overview video! Terje Rypdal also recorded an album with Jan Garbarek called "Hav" (Ocean) along with Norwegian poet Jan Erik Vold. It was originally released on Phillips though in 1971 and reissued on the label Norske Albumklassikere in 2021. (Garbarek and Vold did more without Rypdal). If not familiar, Norske Albumklassikere is partly crowd funded based label re-releasing much 70s through 90s Norwegian music. They just announced a new rerelease where Rypdal produced and did some playing (Carl-Fredrik Prytz m/ Terje Rypdal: Bruksdikt. Prytz reads his poems, Rypdal plays his own music). Inger-Lise Rypdal was his first wife. She is perhaps in a more poppy / folky realm for her own works and might be more familiar to many Norwegians of some age - at least musically. I was able to land Hapless Child on vinyl late last year for very reasonable. Hope you did not get gauged on the CD.... I was not even familiar, but researched more albums with Rypdal on Discogs. Also seeing Wyatt, it was a quick buy. I am near complete if not complete on his solo/ headliner works on ECM and have a good bit more, but still a little ways on other albums where he is involved. I have listened to much of Rypdal, but I have a lot listening to do yet to get your level of appreciation on the majority of the albums. If Mountains Could Sing has a special place with me as well. It makes me homesick. (I live in the Dakotas, but from the land of Rypdal) Your last pronunciation of Ståle was closer...:-) Great video. I could easily handle the length. Have a great week, Richard

[@CalicoSilver]

Hi Richard. Thanks for your great comments. I have that "Hav" CD also (actually I have it on a CD-R that a friend in Norway burned for me), but am not aware (or I've forgotten) of later Rypdal/Garbarek collaborations. I've always wondered why they didn't record more together on ECM after Terje's first solo album there. (Another collaboration I'd often wished for was a Rypdal/EberhardWeber recording). I bought that Hapless Child CD around 1990 from HMV London for about $50 at the time (plus half that amount in shipping to USA), but it was worth every penny. Thanks again for your great comments, Richard. I really appreciate it. Jeff

[@glennmichaelthompson4112]

So glad I came across your video on Terje Rypdal. It will take me a while to fill in the gaps of my collection of Terje Rypdal's recorded catalogue. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I've been listening to Rypdal for over 45 years and was not aware of several of these recordings, especially the ones where he is a sideman. T.R. has been a favourite since first hearing him at the age of 16. Thanks again, I've liked and subscribed to your channel. Looking forward to watching more of your videos. But first I'm making an order for some CD's. Best regards from Canada.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thank you, Glenn. I plan to also make a video about Rypdal’ non-ECM recordings eventually. I have posted individual reviews of his ECM albums from the debut up to the If Mountains Could Sing album, and I posted a series of videos about TerjeRypdal/JanAkkerman/JohnMcLaughlin albums per year from the late ‘60s through until the end of the ‘70s. I hope you enjoy the videos. Thanks for commenting and saying hello. Cheers. Jeff

[@glennmichaelthompson4112]

@@CalicoSilver Hi Jeff. Great idea about making a video about Rypdal's non-ECM recordings. Until then I'll keep busy watching your other videos. Seems like a KZbin channel I can return to again & again. Lots to check out! Especially since I've been a musician & music educator for most of my life, with guitar being my 1st instrument. Definitely will be viewing more of your videos. I just ordered 6 Rypdal CDs after watching this video.... almost ordered some I already have! Guess it has been awhile since listening to a couple of them. It's too bad you had to take down the website based on Terje Rypdal's music. I would have enjoyed that very much. Wishing you all the best. Take care.

[@philjm3103]

Jeff, I loved this video! Thanks for uploading it and don't worry about it being too long....I could listen all day to you talking about TR. You introduced me to him a few years ago and I'm gradually working my way through his extensive catalogue. My favourites at the moment are his work with Jack de Johnette and Miroslav Vitous, What comes After, and Conspiracy (I've just bought the latter on vinyl). Btw, I follow a British drummer called Andy Edwards on KZbin and on a recent video he did of his top ten albums of 1973 he raves about What Comes After - there are clearly more TR fans than we realise. Keep up the good work!

[@CalicoSilver]

I'm happy that you enjoyed it, Phil. I certainly enjoy talking about Terje's music. Yes, I am quite sure that the internet has been very good for expanding Terje's music into more and more listeners' ears. I remember back in the '70s and '80s going to record stores in every town I visited, and asking the employees there if they had any "tirj ripdle" records or cassettes, haha! I wasn't aware of how to pronounce his first name at the time. Only one record store employee knew who I was talking about....but hardly no records or tapes unless I was in a huge big-city store like Tower Records or something. I managed to find a half-dozen or so of his albums in those decades, but when I first got on the internet in the early '90s, the first question I asked in a music discussion group was "Does anyone here like the music of Terje Rypdal?" and I got two responses - a guy from England and a guy from Norway who is a Rypdal expert - both of whom I still know to this day.

[@kimmomaki]

'Esoteric Circle' was likely the earliest Terje/Garbarek/Christensen/Andersen record I owned. Around 1971, if memory serves. I loved it, too.

[@CalicoSilver]

Indeed. I still listen to that album today.

[@dallmarc5988]

Magnifique musicien Rypdal aussi Bjornar Andresen/Espen Rud surtout il ne faut pas oublier Min Bull

[@CalicoSilver]

Yes Min Bul is a great album.

[@marzzt]

Thank you very much for the video. Much here for me to investigate. I do have and enjoy a few of his albums. Love those Garbarek albums. Actually I prefer Garbarek's earlier albums, but that's another story. Thanks again for the time and effort. Great video.

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks, Marz. I love those early Garbarek albums also, and I never really connected with his later albums. Thanks again for your comment. Jeff

[@johnzias284]

As Raoul Björkenheim once said to me in an online exchange: "When Garbarek was Garbarek!"

[@cosmicpickle6562]

Unlike most folks I first heard Rypdal on Barre Phillips 'Three Day Moon', still one of my favorite performances of Rypdals. My favorite of Rypdal's as a leader are easily 'After The Rain' and 'Rypdal/Vitous/Dejohnette' (from 1978). A few other highlights for me are 'Eos' with David Darling (recently deceased), 'Descendre', the 'Classical' side of 'Whenever I Seem To Be Far Away', and oddly, I LOVE 'Bleak House', sounds very much like a 1960's thing. Although not favorites of mine, I think his playing was interesting on those very early Jan Garbarek albums (even before ECM), when he had a rough, twangy, clean and a bit aggressive sound before he found his really heavily processed sound in the mid 1970's which he's pretty much stuck with since. His 'classical' albums (I guess around the 1990's onwards) are worth listening to, though some of his early ECMs I find a bit too raw and repetitive for me, and too much influenced by 'Bitches Brew'. If I could only have one? It would be 'After The Rain' for sure... Good video buddy...

[@CalicoSilver]

Hi Gary. Thanks for these excellent comments. Yes, I too favor After The Rain, R/V/D, and Eos. I also would add the 2nd R/V/D collaboration To Be Continued (even for Maya alone but I love the whole album). These four are my most listened to albums of his discography. I listen to the earlier rawer albums much less often for the same reasons as you mentioned. I used to listen to the Mikkelborg collaborations a lot but I find that I haved tired somewhat of Mikkelborg’s playing, at least for now. I still enjoy the Chasers now and then, especially If Mountains Could Sing. I think that his last really enjoyable album for me personally is Skywards, but I like pretty much everything he’s done except for the Double Concerto and the le Tekroe collaborations (Ronni is a great musician and really nice guy but I don’t care much for his style of playing). I love Nordic Quartet with Surman and Krog, as well as the Phillips and Vesala collaborations. So much to enjoy by Terje. What a great career. Thanks again. Jeff

[@cosmicpickle6562]

@@CalicoSilver I actually enjoyed 'Double Concerto' at times-have to be in the mood, ya know how it goes. I only sampled some stuff with Tekroe once and never went back to check it out again, not my thing at all....Oh yeah, I forgot about 'Nordic Quartet', I have to go look to see if I even picked that one up. I have heard it and like it very much I recall... For me, I bought 'To Be Continued' as soon as it came out. 'Maya' is great and sounds like it could have come from the 1978 album..after that I was like 'what happened to the rest of the album?' . Listening to it, it even sounds like Rypdal wasn't even there for one of the sessions (as he doesn't appear on 2 tracks at all and a third track , a free improv, sounds like his flute may have been overdubbed later). And the title track is clearly something thrown together on the spot. Though I do wish those 3 guys would get together and do another one while they're all still able, though they all now live in totally different parts of the world.

[@CalicoSilver]

@@cosmicpickle6562 I've never made it through one listen of that double concerto. One of the things I found impressive about Terje was his ability to make an electric guitar blend well with acoustic orchestral forces and be expressive in that context. His collaboration with Tekroe prompted him to abandon this sensitivity and to just play like a typical metalhead, which sounds asinine in an orchestral context, IMO. Sorta like Malmsteen's kind of guitar wankery + orchestra nonsense. Just embarrassing. Haha! Totally ridiculous to me. As for To Be Continued, it really does seem like a "leftovers" from the superb R/V/D collaboration, I agree. But for some reason it has always been special for me because I bought the cassette back in the day and would play it over and over as I drove the hour and a half through the snowy countryside of New England each day to and from work. It seeped into my pores and has remained there. But yeah, I totally understand your points here, Gary. As for them getting back together.....well, it seems that our generation (and older) of music heros are dying off so fast that I am starting to think we're just about done. Some of them still record and perform stuff in their 80s (e.g., Stones and Dylan.....jeeez.....) but it is long past time for most of them to just be happy with what they've given us and retire, IMO. I haven't been that impressed with Terje's albums and live performances over the past 25 years, to be honest. I'm just tnankful for those earlier albums and performances of brilliance that he's left us.

[@cosmicpickle6562]

@@CalicoSilver Well I have also listened to 'To Be Continued' a ton-have the original vinyl and I still bought it on CD as well (mainly for 'Maya', 'Morning Lake' and 'Uncomposed Appendix' which I love for some reason)... I love how albums come with those memories if we listened to them in certain situations (like your long drive back and forth from work). I always recall the period of my life I was in when I play some old album that I loved enough to make a tape copy of back in the day and played on any car trips )even local ones), and that includes pretty much all my favorite ECM's from back in the 1970's... Honestly I have to sadly agree. I stopped blind buying Rypdal's albums pretty much during the Chasers period, though 'Skywards' is OK. On recent ones i've read he's got DJ's and turntables and scratching and stuff and I just couldn't even bring myself to give that a single listen. Like you said, I don't know what's happened to him in the last 20 years or so. It's seems the guy who made the delicate 'After The Rain' went away...

[@CalicoSilver]

@@cosmicpickle6562 I used to chuckle at other Rypdal listeners when they'd say that his music is "winter" listening music....but over time I came to agree with them. Those drives through gorgeous snowy New England countryside (small two-lane roads slowly meandering through a snowy wonderland), or just sitting inside our rented 800-sq-ft rented farmhouse surrounded by mountains and looking out at snow falling, etc., were perfect for Rypdal's music. When I moved to Florida it made a difference in this regard, sad to say. I still listened to Rypdal but for me to say it wasn't different would be dishonest. As for his later music, it was a combination of things that lessened my enthusiasm: (1) his shift to predictable tapping/metal riffs (perhaps influenced by Tekro) that he never quite mastered....he sounded like a kid trying out guitars in a record store; (2) the simplification/predictability of his harmonic language resulting in very simple triads (perhaps influenced by Bjornstad) rather than those richly composed chromatic meanderings at which he excelled; and (3) his regression back to Miles Davis (Bitches Brew et al.) stuff that has always bored the living daylights out of me - I never understood the worship of Miles Davis. With all of this said, I still love the guy and most of his music. He was very important to my music life.

[@blangtonclickdark]

I saw a concert in San Francisco (Great American Music Hall) in 1976 + - under the name ECM All-Stars. With Terje, Eberhard Weber, Tomaz Stanko, Bobo Stensen, Warren Bernhardt (DeJohnette?) and others. Wow!! You mention his affection for Miles Davis, but I would add to that Sextant's records; the longer electric/electronic improvisational textures over throbbing bass lines, many with odd meters-odd measure groupings. Their records seem even closer to Rypdal's sound than does Miles' to my ears. What happened to the record with Jonas Helborg and Shawn Lane, its not on discogs?

[@CalicoSilver]

Yes I have often heard about that great SF ECM concert. I think that when I saw Terje in 1998 it was the first time he’d performed here in USA since that 1976 event you attended. He hated flying so that prevented him from touring here much. Yes, Sextant was surely influential to early ‘70s Terje, I think you are very right about that. I am not familiar with a recording of Terje and Hellborg. Do you have any other info about it? Thanks for your comment. Jeff

[@blangtonclickdark]

@@CalicoSilver Can't find any info (checked with friends) about a Rypdal, Hellbog, Lane collaboration. Discogs is usually excellent, so I will assume I am in error, but will keep looking. Thanks for very thorough video. Have you seen the 1994 live concert video with Billy Cobham and Victor Bailey (on KZbin in 3 parts)? After watching those, the algorithms gave me your videos - great find! Thanks!!!

[@CalicoSilver]

@@blangtonclickdark Yes a friend in Norway used to send me DVD-Rs of tons of Rypdal footage, and that Cobham/Bailey/Rypdal show was one of them. Great stuff. I remember the duo of John McLaughlin and Jonas Hellborg back in the day, but not of Terje and Jonas. But that doesn't mean it didn't happen. thanks for your comments. Yes I've made quite a few Rypdal related videos over the past 5 years. Cheers! Jeff

[@johnzias284]

There was also a John Surman album he appeared on in the early 70's. (Non ECM). I had the LP 50 years ago, but I forget the name of it. Very edgy and powerful.

[@CalicoSilver]

Morninglory. And yes it isa great album. I need to make another video and list the non-ECM releases. Thanks. Jeff

[@gorvo31]

Heya Jeff, Was out of town and off the web for a while, so this has been wonderful to settle in and stretch out with you here. Of course great to hear you go over old favorites as as well as talk about ones I don't remember you mentioning before. I have most of these, though SO many are due for a revisit. Much agreed about his use of brass instruments, which I didn't have nearly the appreciation for in general before hearing his mid-70's stuff. Of course, love those with Vesala, Barre Philips.... I finally have that Odyssey boxset on order now. Somehow missed it early on. Of course EOS is huge for me, and will always remember it for being the video you did that introduced me to you and your channel. 🙂 I was just listening to David's 'Darkwood' a couple nights ago... When I was in AZ I brought 'Descendre' with me and it fit quite nicely driving through the desert and surrounding mountains. I just ran across Undisonous the other day and reminded I really must revisit his classical stuff especially. Nordic Quartet is among my favorites from any of those artists and I need to give the stuff he's done this century more of a chance as I've only listened to each of them a few times each after they were new. Lux Aeterna indeed....even just the first 5 minutes alone are as gorgeous as anything. Thanks much for doing this....well worth the time as ever....Now, onto the revisiting! -Carm

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks, Carm. I am glad you enjoyed another magical trip to AZ. You picked a fine time of year to go, which I'm sure was your intent. I can only imagine what Chicago area is like in February! Haha. (Actually, I lived 7 years in western New England, so I probably have a pretty good idea.....) As for the Odyssey boxset.....I had bootlegs of the Unfinished Highballs material long before the boxset came out.....it is pretty good but not nearly as great as the Odyssey stuff. Still, fun to have it officially (I wish ECM would release some of the other dozens and dozens of unofficial recordings of Terje's music that are bootlegged). That Undisonus/Ineo CD is just plain sublime to my ears. I'll never forgive ECM (well, yes I will, but you know what I mean) for not promoting that album at all....they didn't include it on their at-the-time much-promoted New Series project. Now Undisonus/Ineo is incredibly rare and therefore rarely heard. Anyway, I've said all of this stuff over and over.....as is my wont....but again, thanks for the comment and glad you are back home safe and sound.

[@TheTayedrums]

why did you have to take your tr site down...was it not in compliance of maybe copyrighting...? ps i enjoyed this album discography history...thank you

[@CalicoSilver]

Thank you. The Rypdal tribute site was just a branch from my own personal website. I had the site as a support for my own musical career at the time (schedule of gigs, lessons, recording samples, etc.), and when I ended my own personal music career and switched to full-time chemistry lecturer at the local university, I decided to stop paying the $ to perpetuate my own site.....and any other site that I had branching from it (e.g., the Rypdal tribute site). Before I took the sites down, I asked everyone on my Rypdal mailing list to consider allowing me to transfer all of the files and pages that I'd created for the site to anyone who would volunteer to take over the site. No one offered, so I eventually let it all go. But I direct you to the BEST resource ever for Rypdal fans, and that is the following Facebook site maintained by Morten Mordal who was once a very active member of my Rypdal mailing list: facebook.com/groups/2502614664/ Also, yes, there were complaints by certain individuals in the music press that I had included decades-out-of-print magazine articles on the site and that they should be immediately "taken down" (i.e., people like Steve Lake who apparently preferred that his old articles remain in obscurity....which is completely his right, of course, so I complied with his demand).

[@philjm3103]

Hi Jeff, your video has sent me off to discover The Sea and The Sea II by Ketil Bjornstad - I love this music! One other thing, I can't believe how few views you've had on this video!

[@CalicoSilver]

I'm glad you are enjoying these albums, Phil. Such purity and simplicity but such power at the same time. To be honest, there are times when I simply have no interest in these albums.....then other times I find them amazingly powerful. As far as the few views these Rypdal videos get.....well, for one thing, I am not exactly a "power-youtuber/influencer", hahaha!! The KZbin promotional algorithm does not focus on promotion of small users; it focuses on promoting the users who already have tons of views, and it does so for obvious reason: advertising revenue. Secondly, the great majority of my subscribers are Bob Dylan fans, so most videos I post that are not about Dylan get sorta ignored....especially the more obscure artists like Rypdal. And thirdly, I am just an old dude sitting in a chair talking about music.....no flashy production, photos, documentary stuff, music samples, etc.....just an old dude talking. So....with all that said, it is amazing I get the number of views I get. Mostly I am just happy to talk about music I love, period. I let the "views" and "subscribers" and all that stuff do what it will do, and try not to think about it. Thanks, Phil! I really appreciate you comments! and I am very happy that you found Terje Rypdal partly because of these videos. Cheers! Jeff

[@philjm3103]

Hi Jeff, I'm listening to this video again (I rushed through it the first time) and loving it. Your knowledge of, and passion for, Terje Rypdal is awesome. Btw, I've just listened to this video (Towner, Garbarek, Weber and Christensen) - do you know it? It's both fascinating and beautiful. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fJqUZ4luq8R9ars

[@CalicoSilver]

Thanks Phil. Yes I have watched that video several times. Towner is a mystery of a masterful guitarist, but the mystery part is how he manages to blend such a quiet intimate instrument with louder bolder instruments and make it sound good. That was how powerful a player he is. Thanks again.

[@markuselipka]

no bill frisell in yr fav-list of guitarists?

[@CalicoSilver]

Love Frisell’s playing style, yes. But his music doesn’t hold my attention for very long. Great player though.