Bugge Wesseltoft

it is in his solo material that we can glimpse the true soul behind the effervescent and mercurial mind of one of the most infuential and important Norwegian musicians of an entire generation.

On 'Be Am', Wesseltoft has allowed his creative impulses to wander where they may - no preset rules to govern the composition and production, no obligations to (not) use electronics, not even a will to be totally alone. This is pure playing and composition, where the music speaks freely by whatever means it will. Many of the pieces here have the feeling of being wordless songs - indeed, no words are needed when the notes convey all that is needed on tracks like "Tide" or "State". The arrival of Håkon Kornstad on the track pairing of "Emergence" and "Roads" shifts the mood from one of peace within solitude to peace within company, the latter track being an understated dialogue, a musical soundtrack for watching the world hustling and bustling, or sleeping its way towards a new day. Tracks such as "Messenger", "Green" and "Be Am" throw more angular shapes, musical shadow-play where unexpected progressions shift to moments of gospel uplift before taking unanticipated shifts towards unexpected harmony. With "Life", kalimba accompanied by birdsong loops, carrying us into a piece that takes tentative but exact steps between positions, like tai chi in musical form. "Sunbeams through leaves softly rustling" closes the album with that beautiful Satie-like melodic simplicity that Bugge has made his own.