"«Wako» is an album that summarizes a significant period of this busy, innovative band, presenting itself as a versatile and highly diverse outfit that still wishes to expand its aesthetic." - Eyal Hareuveni, SaltPeanuts (IL)

“Bright ideas and fresh-sounding jazz” Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise (UK)

“If you like something diverse and intriguing with a vivacious blend of cross-pollinated jazz seeds that have grown into something fresh, wild and adventurous, this is an album well worth checking out.” - UKVIBE (UK)

In this, their follow-up to "Urolige sinn", Wako have adopted new creative processes, approaches, and methods, as well as an exceptional roster of guest musicians. "Wako" is an album of diversity, a jazz and improvisational banquet, a cornucopia of compositional exploration, and – above all – very aptly named, as it is resoundingly "Wako".

Once again, Martin Myhre Olsen and Kjetil André Mulelid's compositions interweave order and chaos, dissonance and harmony, light and shade, and all manner of musical grit and gusto in a unique fashion. Moments of pensive serenity collapse into ecstatic frenzies. Other moments hint at rock, perhaps even pop music, while others are saturated in colorful abstract expressionism. With such an utter disregard for purism, and a will to venture deep into the sonic unknown, Wako creates a unique musical dialect, if not a completely new language. 

The augmentation of the line-up adds textural layers that alter the mood, highlight the drama, and heighten the tension (sometimes almost to breaking point). Featuring strings (not an entirely new occurrence in the Wako canon – see "Modes for All Eternity", their album with Oslo Strings), both solo (Adrian Løseth Waade, violin) and trio (Kaja Constance Rogers, violin; Isa Caroline Holmesland, viola; Kaja Pettersen, cello), where elements of Zappaesque baroque can merge with Sibelian swells or angular pizzicato, or simply launch into gypsy-like combustion. Rob Waring's vibraphone comps and mirrors the zig-zag licks, while Arve Henriksen's trumpet and mercurial sampling contributions highlight Beatles-style shuffling grooves with (semi-)ironic big band stylings á la James Last and Bert Kaempfert. The saxophone contributions from Jonas Kullhammar, Espen Reinertsen, and Sissel Vera Pettersen complement, contrast, and augment Martin Myhre Olsen's reed work, while the additional synth from Reinertsen and the vocals from Pettersen add new colors to the whole sound.

P R E S S 

“a splendid album” - Written in Music (NL)

“A definitive statement for Norwegian Jazz” - All About Jazz (US)

“Bright ideas and fresh-sounding jazz” Selwyn Harris, Jazzwise (UK)

“Thought-over and creative music from a full-grown quartet” - Vital Weekly (NL) 

“Calling Wako an adventurous jazz band is actually too limited” - Dick Hovenga (NL)

“a musical journey which brings epic goodness in modernist Dancefloor Jazz” - Nitestylez (DE)

"From the rippling, strings-enhanced and chamber-like to abstracted boogie grooves and rocking rumbustious fun" - JazzJournal (UK)

“Wako's fourth album might be its least cohesive to date, yet here's that rare instance where such a lack is actually a positive thing” - Textura (CA)

"Ännu en självklarhet i skivhyllan" - Musikkplaneten (SE)

“Arrangert musikalsk fribryting” - Lars Mossefinn, Dag og Tid (NO)

“Man føler synapsene knatre og hjernevevet spire og gro når man lytter til Wako” - Stemmegaffel (NO) 

“Wako har på kort tid jobbet seg frem til førstedivisjon med en intelligent, melodisk og skarp variant” - Audun Vinger, Dagens Næringsliv (NO)

“Åpenheten i tilnærmingen har ført Wako til nye steder og tilført musikken en friskhet som smitter. Jeg tror de kan ha funnet seg selv.” - A. Andersen, Jazznytt (NO)