Ketil Bjørnstad, the Norwegian artist, revisits the combination of piano and cello – an instrumentation that already characterized his highly acclaimed albums "The River" and "Epigraphs" with David Darling (1996/1998). With Svante Henryson, however, a completely new musical narrative unfolds. Henryson, the Swedish cellist, currently collaborates with classical music luminaries such as the piano virtuosos Roland Pöntinen and Bengt Forsberg, the clarinetist Martin Fröst, and the singers Anne Sofie von Otter (mezzo-soprano) and Mikael Samuelson (baritone). He was first introduced to ECM audiences in 2001 as part of Jon Balke's Magnetic North Orchestra on "Kyanos." His jazz experience includes numerous collaborations with Tord Gustavsen, Marilyn Mazur, Nils Petter Molvær, and Arild Andersen. In the pop and rock genres, his collaborations range from Yngwie Malmsteen to Elvis Costello. He thus embodies a musical polymath – similar to the composer, improviser, and writer Bjørnstad. Their jointly created soundscapes – atmospherically dense, rendered in dark tones, and characterized by a melancholic nature – defy any conventional genre classification.
