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The Squid's Ear Magazine

Ballrogg (Ellerhusen-Holm / Arntzen / Stackenas)
Rolling Ball

Ballrogg (Ellerhusen-Holm / Arntzen / Stackenas): Rolling Ball (Clean Feed)

The Norwegian trio Ballrog, which started as the duo of Klaus Ellerhusen-Holm on clarinet and Roger Arntzen on double bass, then expanded with guitarist Ivar Grydeland, who is replaced by guitarist David Stackenäus, a perfect choice for the lyrical chamber approach of intertwining lines and fluid melodic statement, with a sense of "free chamber americana"; beautiful.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Klaus Ellerhusen-Holm-Holm b clarinet, bass clarinet, bass amplification

Roger Arntzen-double bass

David Stackenas-electric guitar, acoustic guitars


Click an artist name above to see in-stock items for that artist.



UPC: 5609063005585

Label: Clean Feed
Catalog ID: CF558
Squidco Product Code: 29792

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2020
Country: Portugal
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded at Studio Paradiso, in Oslo, Norway, on June 18th and 19th, and October 24th, 2019, by Christian Engfelt and Jorgen Smadal Larsen.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"At first, the Norwegian trio Ballrogg was a duo formed by reedist Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (Honest John, Large Unit) and double bassist Roger Arntzen (In the Country, Chrome Hill), then later expanded with guitarist Ivar Grydeland, who through two albums added a country & western flavor to the mix and placed Ballrogg's music as "free chamber americana". Now the sublimely versatile Swedish guitarist David Stackenäs (Kim Myhr You|Me, Sol Sol) has taken Grydeland's place and sounds right at home on Rolling Ball.

As Peter Margasak says in the liner notes:

It's Stackenäs's debut recording with Ballrogg, but he's lived with the music well before joining in 2017. Over the years Stackenäs has gamely filled in, subtly incorporating his own lyric aesthetic within arrangements crafted without him. Paradoxically, while the music on Rolling Ball registers as Ballrogg's most compact and controlled endeavour thus far, it also feels its most liberated expression as well. The arrangements bring a contrapuntal splendor to these bucolic melodies, with each instrumental line woven into an exquisite lattice of meditative beauty. The astonishing fluidity is what makes the music of Ballrogg so special. The road ahead feels more open than ever, suggesting the titular notion of a ball moving forward according to gravity and landscape. Ballrogg create those conditions for momentum, but the magical quality is that it all feels like an act of nature."

"-Clean Feed Records


Artist Biographies

"Studied music at the jazzdepartment of the Trondheim music conservatory 2000-2004 and is now located in Oslo working mostly with improvised music and free jazz. I the recent years the most active groups have been Ballrogg, Trondheim jazzorchestra and his own group Klaus Holm Kollektif, who were awarded "Young Nordic Jazzcomets 2003". Holm plays improvised music with the Norwegian quartet Murmur and has worked with international artists such as Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Ingar Zach, Jim Denley, Raymond Strid, Axel Dörner og Mattias Ståhl. He has been touring festivals and jazzclubs in several countries in both Europe, America and Asia. The last years he has also composed music for various chamber music settings and also music for film."

-Ballrogg Website (http://www.ballrogg.no/bio.html)
4/28/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Studied music at the University of Oslo from 1998-1999 and at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo from 1998-2006. He is known from the piano trio In The Country, who was awarded "Young Jazz Musicians Of The Year 2004" in Norway. The trio has released three albums on the Norwegian indie-label Rune Grammofon to much acclaim. He is a regular together with Shining-leader Jørgen Munkeby with the noise-rock-jazz-quartet Chrome Hill and has teamed up with Chrome Hill-drummer Torstein Lofthus as two thirds of Håvard Stubø Trio. He has also worked with downtown NYC icon Marc Ribot and pedal-steel guitarist Bob Hoffnar, and other international artists such as Neil Metcalfe, Terry Day, John Russell, Sidsel Endresen, Susanna Wallumrød og Stian Carstensen."

-Ballrogg Website (http://www.ballrogg.no/bio.html)
4/28/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Has toured as soloist and with many different groups in Europe, the USA, Japan and the Middle East. In 2000 David released critics´ acclaimed CD the guitar on swedish label Häpna and has since then released bow on Kning-Disk (2006) and Separator on Found You Recordings (2009). Also plays with LabField (w/ Ingar Zach), SEVAL, Les Sons Du Nuage, Lina Nyberg Band and the New Songs (w/ Sofia Jernberg a.o) and has participated as musician and made music for many different theatre- and dance pieces. Through the years he has played with, among many others: Evan Parker, Barry Guy, Lina Nyberg, Sofia Jernberg, Rhodri Davies, Paul Lovens, Axel Dörner, Sten Sandell, Thurston Moore, Mazen Kerbaj, Christine Abdelnour, Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilssen-Love, Cecilia Persson, Jim O' Rourke, Tatsuya Nakatani."

-Ballrogg Website (http://www.ballrogg.no/bio.html)
4/28/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Terms Or Conditions 5:50

2. Merken 5:39

3. Rolling Ball 4:59

4. Collage Casual 4:27

5. Miami Weekend 5:45

6. Nostalgic Idol 5:15

7. Sonata 220 And 110 5:02

8. Multiplie Maximal 5:25

Related Categories of Interest:


Clean Feed
Improvised Music
Free Improvisation
Jazz
European Improvisation, Composition and Experimental Forms
Melodic and Lyrical Jazz
Trio Recordings
Staff Picks & Recommended Items
Squidco's Clean Feed 50% Sale

Search for other titles on the label:
Clean Feed.

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The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

© 2002-, Squidco LLC

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