Description

39 year old drummer Snorre Kirk introduced himself to the jazz world as a composer and bandleader in 2012 with the critically acclaimed debut album Blues Modernism, which took home JazzSpecial Magazine’s award for Album of the Year, His next releases Europa (2015). Drummer & Composer (2017) and Beat (2018) paved the way for an international breaktrough. The autumn of 2019 saw the release of Kirk’s fifth album, Tangerine Rhapsody, also featuring American saxophonist Stephen Riley. Going Up presents listeners with singable melodies and beautiful arrangements, ornately detailed yet devoid of distraction. Tenor saxophonists Stephen Riley and Jan Harbeck are supported by an elegant, swinging rhythm section with Magnus Hjorth’s funky piano, Anders Fjelsted’s solid bass playing and Snorre’s own tasteful and practical drumming. Kirk and his band manage to simultaneously keep one eye looking in the rear view mirror and the other on the road ahead, creating a coherent, charming cocktail of equal parts soul and swing, spreading their infectious passion for a timeless brand of jazz that was born long ago but will never die Review Imagine the classic Basie rhythm section re-constituted but without guitar and that’s what you hear on the opening riff-based ‘Right On Time’, one of nine pieces on this Copenhagen recording by Norwegian drummer-leader Kirk. US tenorist Stephen Riley is the album’s star turn, his husky sound and style like a compendium of Paul Gonsalves and Ben Webster, with more than a hint of Johnny Hodges thrown in… This is smile on your face music, infectious and joyous… I liked it a lot and could have done with more. –Peter Vacher, Jazzwise, October 2021 About the Artist Tracks: 1. Right On Time / 2. Streamline / 3. Going Up / 4. Dive / 5. Bright & Early / 6. Highway Scene / 7. Call To Prayer / 8. Blues Arabesque / 9. The Grind