OPEN CLASS // Helge Sunde (w/Ensemble Denada) // Windfall

Jury's reasoning With the album "WINDFALL", Helge Sunde and Ensemble Denada have delivered a razor-sharp work loaded with positive energy. From the first moment, one is struck by how clearly the music is formulated. Dualisms, contrasts and reliefs are created. The sections in the ensemble are set against elements from the rhythm section or against solo instruments. The lush ensemble use, a sound image that […]

  / 31/03/2014 /
TONO chairman Bendik Hofseth did it with a bang when he announced that Helge Sunde was the winner of the 2013 Edvard Prize in the Open Class. Sunde received the award during a concert with Ensemble Denada at the National Jazz Scene in the summer of 2013.
The jury's reasoning

With the album "WINDFALL", Helge Sunde and Ensemble Denada have delivered a razor-sharp work loaded with positive energy. From the first moment, you are struck by how clearly the music is formulated. Dualisms, contrasts and reliefs are created. The sections in the ensemble are set against elements from the rhythm section or against solo instruments. The lush ensemble use, a sound image that kicks off, and a great degree of playfulness in the production create a nice counterbalance to the strongly controlled compositional part of the project. Through the way the musicians are gathered in a strong grip, a mechanical but never predictable drive is created, a virtuoso musical express train of playing joy.

The album contains seven works with "Traces of American jazz, West Norwegian esprit and European art music", as the album cover aptly describes. A powerful display of creativity and craftsmanship at the highest level, all signed by composer and ensemble leader Helge Sunde."