Espen Eriksen Trio

The Espen Eriksen Trio is a Norwegian jazz piano trio comprising pianist Eriksen, bassist Lars Tormod Jenset, and drummer Andreas Bye. Their sound emerges from Eriksen's lyrical, often limpid compositions that draw inspiration from folk and liturgical musics and jazz impressionism. Based on their first three albums, 2011's You Had Me at Goodbye, 2012's What Took You So Long, and 2015's Never Ending January, critical and aesthetic comparisons to E.S.T., the Necks, and the Tord Gustavsen Trio abounded. That said, none of these groups rely on lyric harmony to the extent Eriksen does. British saxophonist Andy Sheppard also appears with the trio as a guest soloist. Since playing on 2018's Perfectly Unhappy, however, he's been a near constant, both on tour and in the studio. While 2020's End of Summer didn't include him, both 2022's live In the Mountains and 2023's As Good as It Gets did. Eriksen met Tormod Jenset in 1998 when they were music students in Oslo; they played together some, but the union was short-lived as the bassist opted to continue his studies in Copenhagen. He returned to Norway in 2007, just as Eriksen had serendipitously been working on forming a trio, and he gladly stepped in. The pianist knew of Bye but didn't know him. The drummer was a seasoned jazz veteran -- he'd been part of Frode Berg's band on 2003's Dig It; he played on Bugge Wesseltoft's New Conception of Jazz, and with the Sigurd Køhn Quartet, the saxophonist Håkon Kornstad's band, Jazzmob, and several other outfits. Eriksen approached him by sending a text about joining his trio; remarkably, the drummer, impressed by the pianist's demos and Tormod Jenset's participation, readily accepted. They spent several years woodshedding, as well as opening for other acts on the Norwegian jazz circuit. Rune Kristoffersen, label boss of Rune Grammofon, heard them one evening and was so impressed he signed them. Their debut, You Had Me at Goodbye, appeared in 2010 and received welcoming reviews from the European jazz press. They drew favorable comparisons to E.S.T. pianist Tord Gustavsen's trio, Australian jazz trio the Necks, and the ECM sound (not surprising, since the longtime ECM recording engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug mixed and mastered it, and recorded later albums). Following European tours and festival appearances, they returned to the studio to record and release What Took You So Long. The set won praise on both sides of the Atlantic for its limpid yet crystalline lyrical approach to swing. Their touring took them as far afield as South Korea in addition to Europe. During a festival appearance, British saxophonist Andy Sheppard heard the trio and was impressed by their harmonically assonant compositions and unhurried approach to performing. He became Eriksen's acquaintance and accepted his invitation to jam with the trio. It worked so well that Sheppard was enlisted as co-billed guest soloist for 2018's globally celebrated Perfectly Unhappy. Given the saxophonist's many commitments, he didn't join them on 2019's widely acclaimed End of Summer, which was released during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. When they toured in 2021, playing Europe, South Africa, Japan, and the U.K., Sheppard joined them whenever possible. He was part of the band for In the Mountains. Recorded in concert, live in studio, and elsewhere, it offered six Eriksen compositions from across the trio's catalog and a cover of Krzysztof Komeda's "Rosemary's Baby" theme. In 2023, Sheppard rejoined the trio in the studio and recorded As Good as It Gets. While the composer's inherent lyricism continued to govern his compositions, they were delivered with quicker tempos and a more improvisatory outlook, showcasing the quartet's ability to investigate as well as elucidate.
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