An incredibly exciting and musically eclectic Norwegian label named Is It Jazz? Records was launched in 2022 by some of the individuals who are also responsible for the ever-reliable Dark Essence Records and Karisma Records. As the name of this relatively new endeavour suggests, Is It Jazz? Records is something altogether different and wonderfully unpredictable. Jazz appears in many different forms and often in musically adventurous and intriguing combinations with other genres such as prog rock, Americana, electronica, black metal, and psychedelic rock. From explosive and face-melting to introspective and hauntingly beautiful, the label’s roster displays completely different takes on the genre, and whether you are into hard rock or prog, there are things you ought to investigate here. A conversation with one of its founders, namely Martin Kvam, seemed like the obvious thing to do.
Greetings Martin, I trust all is well at your end. Is It Jazz? Records has proven itself a most interesting and noteworthy addition to the music scene. All four (five if you count the upcoming Flora Eallin by Leagus) of your releases are completely different to one another but the one thing they have in common is an appreciation of jazz and that they are related to said genre in one or more ways. What is your vision and long-time plan for the label? Where do you see it ten years from now?
Martin: Hi Jens, all is very well here. Thanks for the kind words regarding the humble beginnings of Is It Jazz? Records and our first releases. Yes, it’s four very different releases, and we’re very proud of each one of them. The vision and plan for the label is to be a good home for bands and artists that belong within the rather vast realms of the jazz genre. Maybe some of them linger on the outskirts of what we typically look upon as jazz, but all of them have improvisation as a common thread and all of them should have a quite unique sound of their own. So, in ten years from now, I hope people will take for granted that a release on Is It Jazz? Records equals jazz music with high quality that both challenges and excites the listener.
Woolgathering by Datadyr is relatively easy on the ear but there is an awful lot going on in terms of textures and layers. That also goes for the Keymaster EP, which was released just a few weeks ago. What are your favourite tracks by those guys and what is it about them that appeals to you? I caught their show at Apollon Platebar a few weeks ago, and it was outstanding. Blending explosive rock, Americana, and melancholy jazz like they do is a stroke of genius.
Martin: I really enjoy the free-floating feel of the band and the playfulness in their sound. It’s both melodic and quite groovy, and at the same time it can surprise you with sudden changes in both mood and harshness. Tracks like ‘Krystalldans’, the upbeat ‘Daybreaking’, the slick ‘Keymaster’ and the mellow ‘Woolgathering’ are very different but great examples of the sound of Datadyr. Odd Erlend Mikkelsen has a really great sound in his guitar playing, and the same goes for the flow of Amund Nordstrøm’s drumming and the bass playing of Øystein Høynes. They’re a great live band, as you witnessed, and I really hope to see them get more shows in time to come.
I have played Soft Ffog to quite a few friends who usually listen to hard rock and heavy metal, and they love it. It is quite punchy and intense stuff in many ways, almost akin to a mixture of jazz rock, prog rock, and psychedelic hard rock, and the album artwork has a wonderfully surreal vibe to it. That one is probably the closest to prog rock in the Is It Jazz? Records catalogue, would you not agree?
Martin: Totally. We actually talked about doing this on Karisma Records, our home for prog rock, but with the guys’ jazz background and the launch of the label, we went with Is it Jazz? Records here. As the band says themselves, they’re four jazz guys trying to play classic rock and prog but fails miserably because of their jazz background.
The founder of Soft Ffog, Tom Hasslan, together with drummer Axel Skalstad, also plays in the jazz rock band Krokofant, who have already done five albums. We are therefore very happy to announce that Krokofant just signed with us last week, and we are really looking forward to hearing their new album when that one is ready.
One is definitely in for a surprise when listening to Leagus and their unique brand of deeply atmospheric music. Talk about evoking soundscapes that tug at the heartstrings. Pretty dark and melancholic tunes. How does one even define or categorize them? How did you come across the duo, and what were your immediate reaction the first time you immersed yourself in Florin Eallin?
Martin: Well, they’re not easy to pigeonhole at all, but one might call it very Nordic, modern, and electronic jazz. Not long after we announced the start of the label, I got an email from an old sort of colleague of mine. I used to work for a music organization called Brak that works for everyone from artists to venues and tries to answer all their questions about the music business. And Brak only covers the west coast of Norway, basically the Vestland county. Fredrik Forssman has this kind of job for the north of Norway and works from Tromsø. So, he sent me some info and links, and he asked if Leagus could fit into the newly started label, and yes, it definitely could. Both me and the rest of the office immediately got into the music and the whole concept around it, and we basically fell in love with the whole project. It has so many levels, and what the North Norwegian Jazz Ensemble brings into the sound is also amazing. I found the two first Leagus albums online shortly after (where they work as a duo), and both of those records are amazing as well. It’s also our first chance to work with a project with a Sami heritage background, which I find very interesting and great.
Can you remember the first jazz record or jazz concert that had a profound effect on you? I mostly became interested in certain aspects of jazz thanks to the Canterbury scene and Soft Machine in particular. Well, In the Court of the Crimson King by King Crimson also had jazzy segments that captivated me, so that LP needs to be included too.
Martin: When I was a kid, I lived in the city of Molde for a couple of years, and I was always fascinated by how the town changed when the Molde Jazz Festival was arranged every summer. It’s one of Norway’s biggest jazz festivals, and the atmosphere was really great. I usually just saw some free outdoor shows and hadn’t a clue on who was playing, until in 1991 when I saw John Zorn’s Naked City at the festival, with Bill Frisell on guitar, Fred Frith on bass etc., and as a surprise vocalist, there was Mike Patton from Faith No More. In 1991. That was insane! I got to meet the band afterwards, and John Zorn thought it was awesome that I wore a Carcass t-shirt since Naked City had just released an EP on Earache Records.
In 1996 I got to see Jan Garbarek with the Hilliard Ensemble in the Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim, and I’ve never experienced something that huge musically. In the middle of the enormous church floor stood Garbarek with his saxophone, playing beautifully and atmospherically, and in the different hallways and pathways around the nave, these Gregorian monk chants and singing came from the Hilliard Ensemble.
Were those encounters jazz? I would like to think so, but probably not in the most pure and typical sense of what you call jazz. But as you say, a lot of prog bands, especially in the classic Canterbury scene or the R.I.O. bands, both were and still are more typically jazz sounding than a lot of stuff that are put in the jazz genre. And don’t forget Frank Zappa 😊
You have been involved in running labels for many years now. What keeps you there and what motivates you?
Martin: It’s the love of music, the wish to get as many other people as possible to hear the great music I get exposed to and to help bands to get their music out there. And I’m not sure if I’m fit to work with anything else now. I got stuck ha-ha.
What is a usual day at the office like for you?
Martin: It usually starts off with coffee, sorting out what kind of deadlines that are approaching and have a quick view at the sales. And then there are emails for a lot of the remains of the day. I’m usually the one to make sure that the press knows what is coming out, so I spend a lot of time dealing with sending out promos, answering questions regarding releases, sorting out interviews, getting the reviews to come in and all of that. Then I do a fair share of the applications for fundings and reporting on those. I also handle some of the contract discussions, and for the artists/bands I’m assigned to, I must make sure we have all the info we need to get stuff done right. So, it varies all the time, which I enjoy. And it’s quite hectic at times, which I also enjoy.
What does the rest of 2023 hold for Is It Jazz? Records?
Martin: Well, our first release this year came out in February, which was the free jazz octet Aksel Røed’s Other Aspects and the album Do You Dream in Colours?. I’m really looking forward to the 28th of April when we will release the Flora Eallin album by Leagus and the North Norwegian Jazz Ensemble. They are doing the release concert at the Jazzahead Festival in Bremen, Germany, and I’m really looking forward to seeing that live. We signed the band named Solstein last year, which is the jazz fusion project from Jacob Holm-Lupo who is mostly known for his work within the prog genre and his band White Willow. Keith Carlock from Steely Dan and Toto plays drums on the album, and the sound is so unapologetically fusion that it sort of makes me blush. We also signed the local band Shakai last year, and they will record their 2nd album this spring. Kenneth Kapstad (Spidergawd, ex-Motorpsycho) just joined them on drums, and I look forward to hearing that album. We also recently signed drummer extraordinaire Erland Dahlen for his 5th solo album. As I mentioned earlier, Krokofant just signed with us for their 6th album, and we have some other exciting news coming in the next few days regarding another band and record, so it looks like it’s going to be a hectic year!
