Skarbø Skulekorps, «Dugnad» (Hubro 2021)
«… Resultatet er et overraskende stramt lydbilde – det er låter som den funky og florlette jazzperlen «Murgröna» et bevis på. Her briljerer trompetist Stian Omenås som solist. ….» (BT, mars 2021, 5/6)
» … Trumpeter Stian Omenås shines on «Murgröna»; and contemporary composer Øyvind Torvund contributes an eerie, sci-fi modular synth sax on the closing piece «40×10». Quite a wild and eccentric ride. … (Salt Peanuts, March 2021).
«….Trumpeter Stian Omenås has been playing with Øyvind for 27 years. Listen to his solos on Kassett and Murgröna, and you will understand why he is one of the most melodic musicians around….». (Francemusique.fr, March 2021)
«… A brass overture with epic accents, a virtuoso trumpet solo by Stian Omenås, lightly swaying guitar riffs, all carried by a pocket fanfare: this is how one might be tempted to sum up these two minutes of eclectic jazz. But to be honest, one cannot characterize this iconoclastic creation which navigates between post-rock, free jazz, or electro-symphonic genres without ever really being able to be summed up to one of them. We are in pure exploration, the most complete authenticity. Skarbø Skulekorps is an aurora borealis, elusive, fleeting and colorful…..» (Le-grigri.com, March 2021)
A lot of more reviews at: https://www.instagram.com/skarboskulekorps/
Miles Davis Tribute, «Bitches Brew», 2020
http://puls.no/17664.html (Arild Rønsen, Puls.no)
Nærmere «Bitches Brew» kommer du ikke. Stian Omenås, som er tildelt rollen å være Miles Davis. Han er strålende!
Skarbø Skulekorps, «skarbø skulekorps» (Hubro 2019)
The Album-realise in 2019 was a big success. You can read a lot of reviews at the bands Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skarboskulekorps/?hl=en
Lydrommet, Periskop 2017
http://www.periskop.no/kva-a-makse-kulturelle-skolesekken/
Parallax+Nilsson, 2015:
Nyanserik akustisk jazz- og lyskonsert
Medan den første testkonserten i Propellhallen kulturarena var av det store og mektige slaget, der musikken kunne vore framført i andre store, klangfulle konsertlokale med same effekt, var fredagens andre testkonsert meir spesialtilpassa nettopp dette industrilokalet. PARALLAX + Nilsson er ei gruppe på tre akustiske musikarar og ein lysdesigner. Desse fire er Are Lothe Kolbeinsen (gitar og preparert gitar), Ulrik Ibsen Thorsrud (trommer og perkusjon), Stian Omenås (trompet og perkusjon) og Elisabeth Kjeldal Nilsson (lysdesign). Både musikken og lysdramaturgien blir tilpassa og oppstår i samforståing med det rommet dei til ei kvar tid opptrer i. Musikken er tvers gjennom improvisert, den blir til i augneblinken. Lysdesignet har på si side nokre variablar som designeren kan improvisere med, alt etter kva rom dei er i.
Det publikum fekk vere vitne til fredag kveld var musikk og lysrørsler som tydeleg gjekk i eitt med det industrielle rommet. Det heile voks fram slik at ein i det klingande og visuelle kjende att inspirasjonen frå røra i taket og propellane på golvet. Lyd-og lysimprovisasjonen starta som ei naturleg fylgje av rommet me sat i, men skapte etter kvart også nye assosiasjonar, slik at den transcenderte rommet, den ga nye perspektiv. Taket vart til dømes ikkje berre tak, men vart også ei glitrande vassoverflate ein såg ned på. Forhallane vart ikkje berre det me hadde passert gjennom på veg inn i konsertlokalet, men vart også omskapte til uutforska, mørke fjellsider langt borte.
Difor, når me etter den timelange improvisasjonen tusla oss stille ut gjennom «gata» i bygget, var det med ei kjensle av å ha sett djupare inn i dette huset, lytta djupare inn i oss sjølve, og vorte merksame på at det me til dagleg ser og høyrer rundt oss kanskje er meir enn det me i farten oppfattar og tenkjer over.
Dette er ei av kunstens viktigaste roller. Og eg er takksam for at PARALLAX + Nilsson viste oss dette i Propellhallen. Ikkje minst regnet som tromma på taket og vinden som ula ute vart i denne improvisasjonen omdanna til inspirerande materiale for kunsten deira.
(Møre Avis v/Magnar Åm)
After concert with «What a wonderful world», August 2014:
Deep musical dialogues in crematorium (5/6)
….. «The most active musician was Stian Omenås. Centrally located for the audience and fellow musicians he frolicked in small and large posts by trumpet and ‘manner of’ rhythm props. On the trumpet, he was courageous, creative and very bold in their input – often improvisations. He impressed with a well-founded confidence, both technically and in its interpretation, with great proximity to the themes (‘the classics’) formulated this evening in ia Danny Boy, Åse’s death and No moment is so like this.» … (Terje Refsnes/Moss Avis).
Composing work for the norwegian trio 1982 record «A/B» (Hubro/Grappa), released in May 2014:
“Not a lot happens it must be said. But the pleasure is to be gained in the way the ensemble manage to keep their hazy, languorous interplay alive as squally clarinet and unsettling horns cycle through the harmonic undergrowth to jostle unsettlingly. Recorded last summer in Norway the shorter B-side pieces are just the trio stark in their repose but complement the longer piece with the wind ensemble well, and this stimulating album has a logic to it as well as plenty of ideas”. (Marlbank, April 2014).
«Still unlike anything else (5/6) …… Omenås follows loyally dramaturgy and dynamic trio recording, and the introduction harmonic / melodic» nice «before he increases the drama and abstraction level up to the climax and subsequent nedroing. In his well thought out and executed version is «6:16 p.m.» a contemporary musical mini-orchestra works, where the trio just enough often disappear in the ensemble sound, but where the whole is rich and obtained the power to defend each of the 1,096 seconds plant products «. (Dagbladet v / Terje Mosnes, May 2014).
“It’s a dramatic hot air balloon flight, and the brass and woodwind sidle past me like wispy, cotton wall condensation, playfully nudging the yaw of my drift in grand chicanes across the skyline. Tiny breaths and clunking buttons sound like the vintage creaks of my wooden basket, or the ropes and leavers knocking against the framework – it’s an idyllic and colour-saturated opening, and perhaps it’s my own fault for being so blissfully oblivious to the streaks of grey thickening across the cloud perimeters. In the absence of any rhythm to cling onto, I float into the dissonance that curdles surreptitiously into being like an unforecast summer storm, as violins turn from glossy ribbons into sharp fizzles of lightning; just as I feel helplessly swallowed up by the atmosphere that tilts from light into dark (and eventually back again), the players on A/B tumble into the black as though unable to stop themselves, puppeteered by a momentum that becomes increasingly vigorous.
With a few smacks of tom drum I slam back onto the earth, and the record’s motion mutates from a ceaseless glide to an arduous, aimless pilgrimage on foot for the second half. The melodies feel stranded, like palms facing upward waiting for purpose to fall into them; each track hoists itself forward with a sturdy determination, fixated on a horizon that rolls over and over again in eternally renewed mystique. Voices croak and groan in a tug of momentary, woozy fatigue under sunset, while the clunk of changing pitch becomes laboured and somewhat unsettled, like a gigantic wooden marionette fidgeting during sleep. I don’t end my journey through A/B cradled in the arms of resolve, and as harmonium throbs beneath a snare drum that quivers like butterfly wings, I’m left miles from whence I came and no closer to understanding where I’m heading – the major key that carries me out feels like an empty optimistic remark, like an “it’s okay” spoken to someone whose longing and disconcertion runs unfathomably deep”. (ATTN:Magazine, May 2014)
“Für ‚18:16‘ tat sich das Trio zusammen mit einem von Stian Omenås dirigierten Bläserquintett: Fredrik Ljungkvist an der Klarinette, Sofya Dudaeva an der Flöte, Hanne Liland Rekdal am Fagott, Erik Johannessen an der Posaune und Mattias Wallin am Tenorhorn. Die Klarinette stimmt im Kontrast zu den nur dämmrig und schlaftrunken summenden Tieftönern ein Sonnenaufgangstirili an, dem dann doch auch Fagottgesang zustimmt und allgemeines Munterwerden. Die Bläser finden zu einem Unisonochor zusammen, den jedoch ein nicht mehr enden wollender Harmoniumshalteton aufscheucht und gegen die Störung protestieren lässt. Erst nach 13 Minuten pocht Skarbø seine ersten Schläge, vereinzelte und monotone, auf die zage Geigenstriche antworten. Die Bläser bilden einen gedämpften Saum, aus dem sich die Posaune mit sonorem Gesang erhebt und die Flöte mit sich zieht. Bis zum sanften Ausklang dieser Impression, dieses Stimmungsbildes, das, so subtil es auch die naturromantischen Saiten zupft, doch deutlich Morgenluft aus Wiesen aufsteigenden lässt. ……. Sohlen, das tagträumerisch verstrichene nebulöse halbe Stündchen ganz elegisch verdämmern”.
(Bad Alchemy/Germany, May 2014).
«GREAT VOLUME. … ..» 1982, this time taken from old leftover improvisations, as it is given to Stian Omenås (trumpeter) who has written new music. This piece, performed by a quintet consisting of, among others, Fredrik Ljung Kvist (Atomic), so morpet into the old recording. 1982 …… has carved out his own shelf in stone in the open class, and it’s always exciting to see what they put on top of it. » (Dagens Næringsliv, May 2014).
«1982 + Stian Omenås = True.
This is the result of someone dare to let ideas would become true. This time they have invited Stian Omenås to write blower arrangement to «6:16 p.m.» which at best 1982 style both length and title of the song. Initially Omenås had was the input improvisations from 1982.
Goosebumps. The music of Omenås appears more as an independent composition than blowing arrangement to an improvising trio, however, but exciting music, it has become, parallel. It’s party where blow ensemble plays on top and around APELAND orgelklangar that gives goosebumps simply. …… «To enlist Stian Omenås was a chess move. A highly successful publication «. (Dag og Tid v/Lars Mossefinn, May 2014).
Historical sounds from 1982.
«With their new album» A / B «has the improvising trio in 1982, however taken a new leap forward.
Done with himself the «B» page, in a two-part album where the first part is arranged by trumpeter, composer and organizer Stian Omenås, as with-recorded music of the trio has created music for a blow sextet which is laid up on the original improvisations . …. «A» layer is blowing sextet Fredrik Ljung Kvist from «Atomic» and Eric Johannesen Jaga Jazzist from, with Sofya Dudaeva (flute), Hanne Liland Rekdal (bassoon), Mattias Wallin (tenor horn) and composer and trumpeter Omenås. On two goals just over a quarter (33 min), the result is striking … .. It makes profit overwhelming. » (Dagsavisen, May 2014).
….. “The A-Side features just one lengthy piece. Hence the title 18.16. It was penned by Sigbjørn Apeland, Øyvind Skarbø, Nils Økland and Stian Omenås. This piece is seen as the most innovative piece of music 1982 have recorded. Stian has composed and arranged a piece for a wind sextet. It’s another layer of music that sits atop the original improvisation. …….
The result you’ll realise, when I tell you about A/B, is one of the most groundbreaking pieces of music 1982 have ever recorded, 18:16…..
18:16 opens A/B, 1982s fourth album. It’s understated and ethereal as it reveals its subtleties and nuances. A harmonium, violin and wind instruments play gently, They play with care and subtlety. The arrangement meanders along, gradually unfolding. Soon, a clarinet enters. It adds an element of drama. Meanwhile, scratchy fiddles add a melancholy sound. By now, everything from ambient, avant garde, classical, experimental and jazz has been combined. Later, 1982 add their unique improvisational twist to the track. When free jazz enters the equation, the track veers between haunting, to eerie, disturbing and dramatic. Much later, the arrangement is spacious and pensive, before returning to a an understated, ethereal and wistful sound. This results in an epic track, one that’s ambitious, challenging, dramatic and groundbreaking. So much so, that it’s career defining track for 1982 that’s a game-changer as far as they’re concerned. ….
A/B, which is the fourth album from Norwegian improvisational trio 1982, is without doubt, the best album of their career. Flawless describes this Nordic minimalist epic. So does innovative, understated, wistful, melancholy, dramatic, dreamy, eerie, beautiful, broody, moody and haunting. A/B are all these things and more as 1982 seamlessly, mix musical genres. Everything from ambient, avant garde, classical, drone, experimental, free jazz and jazz is combined by 1982. The result is A/B an album of groundbreaking sonic journeys. A/B’s centrepiece is 18:16, the album’s Magnus Opus. It’s a collaboration with a wind sextet. This collaboration was one of the most ambitious pieces of music 1982 have ever recorded. Quite simply, it’s a groundbreaking piece of music that for 1982, will be game-changer. 18:16 is also a career defining track. It’s what everything else 1982 produce will be compared to. However, there’s more to A/B than 18:16.” (Derek Anderson/www.dereksmusicblog.com, May 2014).
Norwegian quality that resists. (5/6). …. «They bring six blowers and has been trumpeter and conductor Stian Omenås to write and arrange the basis of the trio recorded improvisations. The result is both challenging and enjoyable. It is the first long track 6:16 p.m. offering most new. There are only remnants left of the 1982s twilight dance. Blow arrangements pulls the music towards a brighter field where gnuringen not control ground alone. Omenås and blowers convey a sober gaiety, without betraying the band pull toward the gråskimrende. This addition to the 1982 sound works well … .. It is both remarkable and nice to hear how the Norwegian music scene continues to produce quality in this field. » (Aftenposten, May 2014).
Mighty improvisation. A reinforced improvising trio explores and surprises. (5/6). … .. «Then, Stian Omenås led six blowers have improvised over this. The woodwinds and brass complement the soaring musical landscapes that 1982 recorded just before the studio in the Hall was laid down. The result is a long journey through moods, an exploration of sounds and harmonies that are both lighter and darker sides. This part of the album differs quite markedly from «B-side», where the trio are alone. » (Bergens Tidene, May 2014).
… “Omenås captured beautifully the emotional, melancholic atmosphere of the original improvisations and succeeded to form an organic interplay between the improvising trio musicians and the latter, expanded arrangement. He restructured the piece as a subdued and nuanced chamber suite, adding to the intuitive, spontaneous piece more colors, dramatic dynamics, and depth. His meticulous arrangement solidifies the Nordic folk and spiritual references of the 1982 sound, but within a broader, contemporary context”………… (All About Jazz, May 2014).
(4/6) «Get perfects the stagnant and ambiente better without electronic means. Here they expanded into a small chamber orchestra, the disc’s 18-minute opening track. It is adapted to an entire LP side and whispers forward to a quiet acoustic finale, a conclusion that by virtue of the absolute slowness ahead feels as if it rattles. Actually it just down on as the next five unnamed tracks. … .. After 34 minutes you still feel that the disc is over too soon. «(VG, May 2014).
Genre Blindness long live. (5/6) …. «6:16 p.m.» moves forward in what is perceived as different zones. It opens with a blast of harmony, something reminiscent of an event by the late composer and jazz musician «Butch» Morris. However, this jazz-like start not persist. Slowly and patiently glides over a mountain, until they saw rocks into a new sequence. Something is almost sacred, so brands you a clue unrest, where sharp fiddle tones set against a oboe, pounding drums come in, before some kind of resolution is reached at the end. …… (Klassekampen, May 2014).
Stian Omenås 