Notes
It's not often a Jazz band takes the big step from the club scene to a 1300 capacity Rock venue like Oslo's Rockefeller. But then again, Elephant9 is not your ordinary Jazz band. Often cited as Norway's best live band, surely quite rare for an instrumental band, they are equally popular in Jazz and Rock circles. On this, their fourth studio album, Elephant9 once again join forces with Reine Fiske, the Swedish guitarist from Dungen and The Amazing, for an epic slice of mindblowing modern Rock 'n' Jazz Prog Psychedelia. Silver Mountain is their finest album so far, a work on which all the parts fall into place. The core trio is still Stale Storlokken, Nikolai Haengsle Eilertsen, and Torstein Lofthus, three of Norway's finest musicians. Guest Reine Fiske brings another dimension to the band and is now so integrated that he might as well be considered a permanent member. Silver Mountain contains five tracks between 10 and 22 minutes; four originals, plus the most spaced out version of You Are the Sunshine of My Life you're likely to encounter. Stale Storlokken (Hammond organ, Fender Rhodes, Minimoog, Prophet t8, piano) is widely considered to be the most inventive keyboard player from the fertile Norwegian Jazz scene, a reputation founded in his work with bands and musicians like Supersilent, Humcrush, Motorpsycho, Terje Rypdal, and countless others. Nikolai Haengsle Eilertsen (bass, acoustic guitars) is a long-time member of popular Rock group Big Bang as well as Kjetil Moster's quartet Moster!. Torstein Lofthus (drums) is a versatile drummer who has done a lot of session work and played in Jazz, Soul, and Rock bands, most notably Shining. Reine Fiske (electric and acoustic guitars) is a member of Dungen and The Amazing and has guested on two Motorpsycho albums. He is also heavily involved in the Swedish record label Subliminal Sounds.
