Gouldian Finch is the alter ego of Norwegian, Oslo-based composer-percussionist-producer Martin Horntveth who co-founded Jaga Jazzist in 1994 and The National Bank in 2003 (and Gouldian Finches are Australia’s most spectacularly coloured of all Australian birds). His new album Schizo, the second solo album under the Gouldian Finch title (following Hatch, All ape, 2023) is based on the commissioned work, Polaroid, which he wrote for the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2021, and features Gouldian Finch leading a nine-musician ensemble who has collaborated with his previous productions, playing his own compositions, with his programming, and arrangements. He produced the album and recorded it at Studio Paradiso in Oslo and in his own All Ape studio-studio-club in Oslo.
Schizo sounds like a natural evolution of Horntveth’s work and always-inclusive and eclectic sonic vision that has begun with the seminal Jaga Jazzist. It is described by him as a series of «guilty pleasures» where energy, playfulness, or humor are not held back. There are plenty of sudden, fast shifts, tight and catchy brass and synth riffs, smoky guitar solos over complex percussion breaks, and chord progression that ornament the tight melodic structures.
Schizo sounds like Horntveth has finally come to terms with the vilified jazz-rock, fusion, or funky fusion, with its inevitable acrobatic solos, vintage synth sounds, and endless keyboard carpets. Still, it sounds like low-calorie sweet, playful, and heavily produced music that was written in caps lock, as the single from that album was aptly titled. But, unfortunately, it does not trigger a deep emotional or cerebral response. Nice music to caress tired ears, if you do not look for a deep sonic dive, or don’t mind appearing at the fusion party in a few decades’ delay.
Eyal Hareuveni
Eivind Lønning (trumpet), André Roligheten (tenor saxophone), Karl Hjalmar Nyberg (tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone), Håkon Aase (violin), Kai Von Der Lippe (Wurlitzer, keyboards), Andreas Ulvo (Hammond organ, keyboards), Karl Bjorå (guitar, pedal steel guitar), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), Axel Skalstad (drums), Martin Horntveth (percussion, keyboards, programming)
