Time Is a Blind Guide Thomas Strønen

• 1The Stone Carriers06:47
• 2Baka / Tide01:30
• 3Everything Disappears I03:53
• 4Pipa04:55
• 5I Don't Wait for Anyone06:44
• 6The Drowned City06:06
• 7Lost Souls06:16
• 8Everything Disappears II (Ode to Jt)02:21
• 9Time Is a Blind Guide05:40
• 10As We Wait for Time05:19
• 11Simples03:19
• Total Runtime52:50

Info for Time Is a Blind Guide

„Time Is A Blind Guide“ is both the title of Thomas Strønen's album and the name of his new Norwegian-British ensemble. In contrast to Food (his band with English saxophonist Iain Ballamy and guests) and its electronic soundscapes, this is an all-acoustic group which plays what its drummer-leader-composer calls 'melodic music with a twist'.

Its melodies unfurl sinuously over shifting rhythmic patterns. The ensemble was built to include a number of overlapping musical sub-groups. 'There is a kind of enhanced piano trio at the centre of Time Is A Blind Guide,' says Strønen. 'And there is a string group with violin and cello and bass as well as a drum ensemble with me and Siv Øyunn Kjenstad and Steinar Mossige?'. The two percussionists often assert strong and solid grooves, allowing Strønen to play freely on top of the rhythms and to interact dynamically with the outstanding young English pianist Kit Downes, who makes his ECM debut here.

The band (its name derives from a literary source, 'Time is a blind guide' being the first sentence in Canadian author Anne Michaels's 1996 novel, Fugitive Pieces) was formed rather spontaneously, following an invitation from BBC Radio 3 presenter Fiona Talkington. An early supporter of the Strønen/Iain Ballamy group 'Food', she commissioned Thomas to write music for a combination of Norwegian and British musicians for Conexions, a concert series she was curating in Oslo. The group played concerts over a two year period before going to the studio - Oslo's Rainbow Studio - in July 2015, with Strønen and Sun Chung producing.

Thomas Strønen, drums and percussion
Kit Downes, piano
Håkon Aase, violin
Ole Morten Vågan, double bass
Lucy Railton, cello
Siv Øyunn Kjenstad, percussion
Steinar Mossige, percussion

Thomas Strønen
graduated from the Music Conservatory of Trondheim, Norway in 1999 after six years of studying jazz and composition. Since his student days he has been involved with improvised music in different contexts

He is one of Norway´s most prolific drummers, known from his involvement with Food (with Iain Ballamy), Humcrush (with Ståle Storløkken), Parish (with Bobo Stenso), Pohlitz (solo), Maria Kannegaard Trio and others, where he has often also taken on the role of writer and arranger and sometimes producer.

Strønen is a very interactive musician who likes to be involved in different musical forms and he has the ability of creating structures and textures to generate unexpected results. He is a melodic type of drummer who focuses on large forms, sounds and communication, playing both acoustic music and a set up with live electronics such as samplers and sound effects. Today Strønen has a solo record deal on the leading electronic music label Rune Grammofon, and also with his band Parish, on German label ECM.

As a composer, Strønen has contributed (either as main or co-composer) on almost all of his released records so far, more then thirty-five altogether. He has also contributed on several commissioned works for festivals (e.g. the Bath and Cheltenham Jazz festival and Ultima comptemporary music festival) and radio. (e.g. the BBC, NRK, Deutsche Rundfunk, Swedish Radio, among others).

He has played with musicians such as Bobo Stenson (S), Iain Ballamy (UK), Tomasz Stanko (PL), Evan Parker (UK), Tim Harries (UK), Bill McHenry (USA), Lars Danielsson (S), David Tronzo (USA), Koichi Makigami (JP), Ernst Reijseger (NL), Chris Batchelor (UK), Eric Vloeimans (NL), Mattias Ståhl (S), Joakim Milder (S), Fredrik Ljungkvist (S), Christian Spering (S), David Stackenas (S), Staffan Svendsson (S), Joe Williamson (Can), Francois Houle (Can), Martin Kuchen (S), Magnus Lindgren (S), Phil Bancroft (UK), Tunji Bejer (GE), Ståle Storløkken, Bjørnar Andresen, Vidar Johansen, Knut Reiersrud, Iver Kleive, Silje Nergaard, Tore Brunborg, Christian Wallumrød, Trygve Seim, Arve Henriksen, Stian Carstensen, Cikada, and others.

Thomas has toured Europe, Asia and Canada during the last few years with the bands mentioned above, and also with Ståhls Blå (with Swedish musicians Joakim Milder, Filip Augustson and Mattias Ståhl), Phil Bancroft Quartet (with British musicians Mike Walker, Steve Watts) and Maria Kannegaard trio (comprising Ole Morten Vågan). His festival appearances include Moldejazz, Oslo Jazzfestival, Ungjazz, Maijazz, Bylarm, Vossajazz, Nattjazz, Soddjazz, Trondheim Jazzfestival, Kongsberg Jazz, Dølajazz, Montreal Jazzfestival (Can), Vancouver Jazzfestival (Can), Winnipeg Jazzfestival Can), Edmonton Jazzfestival (Can), Toronto Jazzfestival (Can), Victoria Jazzfestival (Can), Ottawa Jazzfestival (Can), Calgary Jazzfestival (Can), Birningham Jazzfestival (UK), Cheltenham Jazzfestival (UK), Bath Jazzfestival (UK), Brighton Jazzfestival (UK), Edinburgh Jazzfestival (GB), Largs Jazzfestival (GB), Exeter Jazzfestival (UK), Leeds Jazzfestival (UK), Leverkusen Jazzfestival (Ty), Musik Triennale Köln (Ty), Aalen Jazztage (Ty), Heidelberg Jazzfestival (Ty), Beyreuth World Music Festival (Ty), København Jazzfestival (DK), Umeå - Stockholm-, Malmö- og Göteborg Jazzfestival (S), Expo (Jp) and others.

Booklet for Time Is a Blind Guide