Heat Knut Reiersrud Band

• 1Sacred Mama06:28
• 2Wood05:04
• 3They Only Ask for Love04:37
• 4April March04:56
• 5The Heat06:10
• 6Monstermaster07:28
• 7This Was Ment to Be a Sad Song07:58
• 8Cantata01:04
• Total Runtime43:45

Info for Heat

On "Heat", his second outing with Jazzland Recordings, Knut Reiersrud, Scandinavia's premier blues guitarist, is not only at the height of his powers, but is wilfully unleashing everything from his enviably substantial musical box of tricks.

Progressive blues rubs shoulders with prog rock moments, train-track 6/8 rhythms jostle alongside atmospheric textures and evocative meditations; one moment there are exuberant Hammond chops and the next there are plaintive Fender Rhodes chordal chimes. Eastern influences inform beautiful slide guitar lines; melody and compositional excellence are pervasive, and – as anyone familiar with Reiersrud or the members of his band will expect – the solos are exquisite. Even the appearance of Bach's Cantata BWV 147 ("Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben") doesn't seem amiss. 12-bar blues structures are expanded upon or abandoned completely here, with "This was meant to be a sad song" demonstrating this most clearly, perhaps, with its literally faltering progress through its baroque shades of blue.

Vocally, Reiersrud channels Curtis Mayfield to Muddy Waters to John Lennon to Cat Stevens, with perfect restraint and clarity, yet remains readily identifiable sonically as much as his trademark red hat and bristly goatee do visually. Lyrical preoccupations with the environment, and nature in general, shoot through the album like veins or roots, particularly on "Sacred Mama", "Wood" and "The Heat".

While much of the album clearly has its roots in 60s blues rock, this is a peculiarly 21st century take on familiar chord patterns and tricks, whether evoking the spirit of Billy Roberts' "Hey Joe", or stirring the atmospheres of "In A Silent Way" into a funky and baroque country blues-rock gumbo. The album's concerns and preoccupations have greater urgency at this point in time, and the feeling that this is music for the end of history is keen.

Knut Reiersrud, vocals, guitar, oud, piano
David Wallumrød, organ, Fender Rhodes, piano, moog, vocals
Bjørn Holm, guitar, vocals
Nikolai Hængsle, bass, vocals
Andreas Bye, drums, vocals

Knut Reiersrud
40 years on, and Knut Reiersrud has returned to the place where it all started. Along with his band, two of the capital's best sound engineers and a camera crew of five he filled the basement room in Munkedamsveien with people and electric guitars.

The place: known as Club7 in the 70s and 80s, now under the moniker Røverstaden: this was where Reiersrud had his first professional gig. The concert in June 1979 was such a success that the club employed him as a standby act for when booked bands failed to appear for whatever reason. Knut could always find people, and he had hundreds of blues songs filling his 18 year old head. The Knut Reiersrud / Tore Hartvik Kristensen duo stood for the musical blue color at Club7 - until Hartvik in 1982 caught a 400 kilo shark and moved to Rosendal to become a fisherman. But Knut continued, also when the club changed its name to Sardines in 1986, and he stood on stage every Monday with Oslo Allstars until the place closed in 1988.

Knut Reiersrud's approach to the blues is an idiosyncratic one, with multiple traditions magically blending to create a sound that is distinctly his own. Blues, whether southern pastoral, soulful urban, or gospel-tinged, through to proto-funk or R'n'B (in the original sense), all find their way into his sound, all seasoned with hints of jazz, Nordic folk and some far eastern vibes. In his playing, you can hear, even feel, the history of the electric guitar, from Charlie Christian to John Mayer, and everyone in between.

The album features Reiersrud (co-)compositions predominantly, with the exception of "When Seasons Change" (Curtis Mayfield), and "I Can't Stop" (Doctor John & Doc Pomus). Of Reiersrud's own material, it goes right back to the mid-90s and up to the present.

Reiersrud in live performance is a different animal from Reiersrud, the conscientious studio musician. The playing is more emotive, more free, more gutsy … simply more. No one who has seen him play live, whether with his band or solo, forgets the experience. It is electric, dazzling, emotional. It is raw and untamed music, a force of nature. Reiersrud's decision to bring two of Oslo's best sound engineers, Frank Gjersdal and Anders Aasebøe, has paid dividends as they have managed to capture the sound, mood and energy of the Røverstaden gig.

"Life – Live at Røverstaden" features Bjørn Holm (vocals, guitar, and lead vocal on "Jordan's Water"), David Wallumrød (vocals, Hammond B3, Clavinet, Fender Rhodes), Nikolai Hængsle (vocals, bass) and Andreas Bye (drums), all in sterling form, matching the intensity and virtuosity of Reiersrud's guitar and harmonica playing. The album is proof, if any were needed, that true blues men, wherever they come from, age like fine wine. Raise a glass to the next 40 years!

This album contains no booklet.