Photo: Eirik Havnes
“Wako is a Norwegian jazz collective with a truly collective sound” - All About Jazz (US)
WAKO
Coming from the vanguard of the New Wave of Nordic Jazz, Wako are one of the most dynamic and innovative groups on the scene. Touring extensively since 2015, they have honed their stagecraft and performances, garnering a solid fanbase and critical acclaim along the way. Described as having "buoyancy and originality" by Terje Mosnes (Jazz i Norge, NO), as possessing "a very personal and distinctive sound" (Mike Collin, London Jazz News, UK), and as creating music that "would melt even the blackest heart" (Bird is the Worm, USA), Wako have brought their ever-evolving musicianship and creativity to impressive live renditions of their work across Europe, including collaborative performances with Oslo Strings and with Norwegian trumpeter ne plus ultra, Arve Henriksen. The scope of their musical reach is always finely attuned in equal measures to audience, environment and source material, meaning not only is each concert superlative, but also a unique experience. In short, Wako are one of the most impressive young live acts today, signalling a healthy future for jazz in Norway and beyond.
Individually, the members are part of different bands and projects, such as Hegge (Norwegian grammy award winner 2017), Megalodon Collective (Norwegian grammy nominee 2016), Espen Berg trio (NTNU ambassadors 2016), Kjemilie and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.
Martin Myhre Olsen - saxophone
Bárður Reinert Polusen - dobbel bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen - drums
Kjetil A Mulelid - piano
“Calling Wako an adventurous jazz band is actually too limited” - Written in Music (NL)
"All four musicians operate as a tight, unified musical consciousness that focuses on coherence, synergy and emphatic interplay." - Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts* (IL)
“These guys have no lack of ideas. It’s really inventive music performed by a very tight quartet. Superb!” -Vital Weekly (NL)
"An entirely open-ended high-risk sort of improvised group playing. It is as if they have abandoned all unnecessary things for lightness of travel. What they need, they will find."
- Fritz Balwit, Audiophile Audition (US)
We have released six albums since 2015. Read more about them here:
- Ut av det nye (Øra Fonogram 2022)
- Live in Oslo (Øra Fonogram 2021)
- Wako (Øra Fonogram 2020)
- Urolige sinn (Øra Fonogram 2018)
- Modes for All Eternity (AMP Music 2017)
- The Good Story (Øra Fonogram 2015)
P R E S S
"The music would melt even the blackest heart" - Bird is The Worm (US)
“Heaps of bright ideas and fresh-sounding jazz” Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise (UK)
“Thought-over and creative music from a full-grown quartet” - Vital Weekly (NL)
"A very personal and distinctive sound" - Mike Collins / London Jazz News (UK)
"It is an engaging work of expressive reach and austere beauty." - Fritz Balwit (US)
“a musical journey which brings epic goodness in modernist Dancefloor Jazz” - Nitestylez (DE)
"Beautiful, contrastful and controlled themes combined with flowing and dynamic development" - Jazznytt (NO)
"The musicians delivers in a way that makes this album a true joy to listen to" - Jan Granlie / Salt Peanuts (NO)
“The overall sound is genuinely impressive and the music sounds very natural and organic” - The Jazz Man (UK)
"Essential sounds, simple compositions and wide-ranging atmospheres. New life to the Nordic jazz music” - Music Map (IT)
“A good half-hour is all this Norwegian quartet needs to get you completely captivated” - Georges Tonla Briquet, JazzHalo (BE)
“Wako has in a short time worked his way up to the first division with an intelligent, melodic and sharp variation” - Dagens Næringsliv (NO)
"It is a solid album, full of inspiring and inspiring pieces, made of essential sounds, simple compositions and wide-ranging atmospheres, and they provide new life to the new wave of Nordic jazz music that the band is part of." - Samuele Conficoni, Music Map (IT)
"A cooperation with buoyancy and originality" - Terje Mosnes / Jazz i Norge (NO)
“An instrumental poem about our Nordic soul” - Mats Palmquist, Lira (SE)
"The overall impression is organic and extremely lively" - Vinyl-Fan (DE)