Tanzano featuring Palle Mikkelborg

As part of their jazz studies tutorship at the University of Stavanger, composer and saxophonist Tor Yttredal and percussionist/drummer Stein Inge Brækhus have tempered a musical partnership with the Bagamoyo College of Arts in Tanzania. John Mponda and Anania Ngoriga are two of the country’s foremost musicians they have come to know through this project, the latter whom has laid down tracks on Bela Fleck’s Grammy-winning Throw Down Your Heart release and is touring with him in February and March this year.

MaiJazz has given Yttredal a platform to create music featuring the two Tanzanians. Dane Palle Mikkelborg - one of Europe’s most high-profiling trumpeters - and Norwegian keyboardist Jørn Øien add to the cultural mix.

The result is a musical lifecycle, with the compositions reflecting various stages in life. Much is geared around ritual music, oscillating between Tanzanian ngoma and Norwegian traditional sounds.

Line-up: Tor Yttredal - saxophone, Stein Inge Brækhus - percussion, John Mponda - ngoma/drums/voice/willow flute, Anania Ngoriga - kalimba/voice, Jørn Øien - keyboards, Palle Mikkelborg – trumpet

Translation by Erik Forster