In the Country

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Morten Qvenild (grand piano), Roger Arntzen (double bass) and Pål Hausken (drums).

In The Country mainly play their own originally written music, executed with use of space, sonority and initiative. They make beauty and tenderness, but is often strange and cunning at the same time. Sources of inspirations to be mentioned are Paul Bley, Ornette Coleman, Bobo Stenson and Kenny Wheeler. In the country also is huge fan of singer/songwriters like Dolly Parton, Damien Rice, Gram Parsons, Ryan Adams and Bob Dylan.

Review Jazztime Magazine June 2005 - debut CD This was the pace of my heartbeat (RuneGrammofon April 2005):

Keyboardist Morten Qvenild is one of Norway’s most valuable utility players. He is the orchestra in the incredible post-Björk duo Susanna and the magical orchestra, writer and arranger for jazz singer Solveig Slettahjell, former member of pop-prog-jazz instrumentalists Jaga Jazzist and Shining, and part of chart-topping supergroup the National Bank. Qvenild gets to display his piano-jazz chops with In The Country, featuring bassist Roger Arntzen and drummer Pål Hausken, and the trio’s debut CD is a stunner. From the jazz world, Qvenild cites Paul Bley and Norwegian free player Svein Finnerud as influences, from classical Olivier Messiaen and Morton Feldman. Qvenild also has a great ear for pop melodies: His gorgeous solo cover of Ryan Adams’ woozy ballad In my time of Need, played with almost no extrapolation on the theme, renders the song a pure lullaby. Qvenild’s mixture of jazz phrasing, classical sensibilities and love of songcraft leads In The Country through 11 songs that rarely rise above a whisper but carry the emotional power of a screaming stack of Marshall amps. The album is so focused that the tracks work together like a suite, but individual highlights abound. Bever Creek starts as a meditation and builds to something like slow-motion free jazz before returning to the gentle melody. How to get Acquainted rumbles through sublimely measured tension that, when released, feels like a giant hook in a pop song. Viggo features Hausken’s haunted wail, singing wordlessly with the melody. The CD closes with Handel’s reverential lament Laschia Ch’io Pianga, played by Qvenild on a Casio SK-10 – simultaneously post-modern and classic, just like the rest of the album. Christopher Porter.


In 2004 In The Country was elected Young Jazz Musicians Of the Year by Rikskonsertene and The Norwegian Jazz Association. This is part of a release program for young professionals called JazzIntro. And as the first jazz group ever, in the country started their master studies in jazz/improvisation at the Norwegian Music Academy in Oslo August 2004.