Foto: Anne-Marie Forker
During the pandemic award-winning Norwegian tuba player and composer Daniel Herskedal composed the commissioned work Out of the Fog (2022) for Jazzfest in Trondheim, with singer-songwriter Emilie Nicolas who wrote the lyrics and performed vocals. It’s an accomplished album that was nominated for the Spellemann Prize, but how would it work live? A sold-out audience at Oslo’s Cosmopolite venue found out on Tuesday night, as Herskedal and Nicolas performed the record on stage accompanied by Eivind Aarset on guitar and Helge Andreas Norbakken on percussion. Defying genres, Herskedal switched between tuba and bass trumpet throughout the evening, as the whole band explored vivid sonic territories together.
Although the record has been performed before (notably at Moldejazz and Maijazz), this was the first performance since 2022 and without pandemic audience restrictions. A sense of freedom contributed to the intimate atmosphere in the packed venue. There was no barrier between the band and the audience, with the front row standing against the stage. Early highlights in the set included “Out Here”, the opening track of album, and the evocative soundscape “Lost”, where the upper registers of Nicolas’s crystal-clear voice filled the venue.
One of Herskedal’s many strengths, in addition to his warm and sensitive solos (such as the beginning of “While I Look For You”) and breath control, are his subtle textures, adding layers and colour but not taking the limelight. This is reflected in how the band are presented on stage. They sit as equals. Herskedal and Nicholas sit on stools on each side of the stage, facing each other, but it is Aarset and Norbakken who sit facing the audience. No one steals the show alone, even though they are all capable of it. Each member of the band delivers a stunning individual performance, but together, it’s sublime, and there is no finer example of this than the cinematic “Tundra”, reminiscent of Peter Gabriel’s work on “Passion”, where Nicholas’s soaring vocals reached stratospheric heights as the music gradually builds to a climax, then retreats with remarkable sensitivity to a gentle end, with just a low key vocal and trombone, where a pin drop could be heard between the notes. This received ecstatic applause from the crowd and the band left the stage. When the band returned, they performed the powerfully moving single “Out of the Blue”.
So, to return to my initial question, how did it work live? It turns out that an astonishing album from Norwegian Jazz and Pop royalty transformed into an equally astonishing concert.
