Norwegian double bass player-composer Adrian Myhr has been active in the local scene for more than twenty years now. He has played in such forward-thinking bands like Oker quartet, Kim Myhr Sympathetic Magic, Johan Lindvall Trio and the duo Simsikina (with Jonas Cambien) and explored more folky and exotic sounds with outfits based on ancient musical traditions like Javid Afsari Rad Ensemble, Harpreet Bansal Band and Majaz. Kokong (Norwegian for cocoon) is Myhr’s debut album as a bandleader and under his name and sounds as a meeting point of Myhr’s diverse musical interests.

Myhr hosts on Kokong fiddler and langeleik (the Norwegian droned zither) player Rasmus Kjorstad and drummer-percussionist-harmonium player Jan Martin Gismervik (who played with Myhr in Oker). The trio first performed at Kampenjazz in Oslo in October 2022. The album was recorded at Studio Paradiso in Oslo and produced by Myhr’s partner in life and music, Michaela Antalová.

The album’s title best captures the nature of Myhr’s melodious and suggestive themes. These themes take their time before shining fully in the outside world, delivered in a slow-cooking, reserved, organic manner. The music sounds as if enjoying a deep and close love for Norwegian folk music, spiced gently with elements of classical Indian music, Balkan music and Persian traditional music, as well as of contemporary music and free improvised music. But the music does not subscribe to any distinct tradition or genre and the trio’s instrumental flexibility and uplifting, subtle grooves and mysterious drones feel untimely and vivid, rich and fresh. Hopefully, we will not have to wait too much for another album of the modest Myhr.

Eyal Hareuveni

Adrian Myhr (double bass), Rasmus Kjorstad (violin, langeleik), Jan Martin Gismervik (drums, hanging vibraphone, harmonium)