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Sigurd Hole: Roraima

By David Bruggink
March 29, 2022
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Norwegian upright bassist Sigurd Hole has stood out in the recent past as both a contributor (with his elegant performance on

Tord Gustavsen

piano
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Tord Gustavsen's 2018 ECM album, The Other Side) and bandleader (through his 2018 Elvesang album Encounters). His solo explorations are equally noteworthy, as on the wide-ranging double album Lys / M?rke (Elvesang, 2020). Recorded on the remote arctic islands of Fleinv?r, he thoughtfully probed the relationship between the high-pitched harmonics and drones of his instrument and the spectral winds of his surroundings.

With Roraima, commissioned for the Oslo World 2020 festival, Hole takes his fascination with nature even further. Inspired by indigenous?culture, ecology, and the creatures and rituals intertwined with the Brazilian rainforest, Roraima?eschews a typical tracklist, instead evoking near-mystical atmospheres with names such as "The Porporiri Moon Being," "The Shaman's Death," and "The Yarori Ancestors."

Hole has assembled the perfect roster to bring this ambitious vision to life, with

Trygve Seim

saxophone

" data-original-title="" title="">Trygve Seim on saxophone,

Hakon Aase

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Hakon Aase on?violin,

Frode Haltli

accordion

" data-original-title="" title="">Frode Haltli on accordion,

Helga Myhr

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Helga Myhr on hardanger fiddle,

Tanja Orning

cello

" data-original-title="" title="">Tanja Orning on cello,

Per Oddvar Johansen

drums

" data-original-title="" title="">Per Oddvar Johansen on vibraphone, and of course, himself on the double bass. It is difficult to believe that the album was recorded in a live setting (during its premiere in Jakob Church, Oslo in 2020), as it has the feel of being meticulously wrought and impeccably detailed.

From the start,?this is a transfixing album that expertly fuses concept with execution. Beginning with several minutes of field recordings from the Amazon basin, human instrumentation only gradually begins to assert itself into this complex mesh of sounds. The palette here is not dissimilar from the work of contemporaries such as

Thomas Strønen

drums
b.1972

" data-original-title="" title="">Thomas Str?nen,

Nils Økland

violin

" data-original-title="" title="">Nils ?kland, or

Arve Henriksen

trumpet
b.1968

" data-original-title="" title="">Arve Henriksen, straddling nebulous boundaries between jazz, folk, and chamber music with the same qualities of assiduous composition and graceful restraint. What sets it apart is the revisitation of the central themes. The line between song and sound-world is sometimes blurred, as the twittering of insects and cries of birds mingle almost imperceptibly with Hole's performers. On "The Hutukara Forest," what momentarily appears to be the piercing call of a bird reveals itself as?Seim's plaintive saxophone. The plucked strings that open "The Poriporiri Moon Being" could suggest either the trickling of water into the basin of buttress roots or the coordinated motion of myriad insect legs.?

However, this is not to say that Roraima?avoids song structures entirely; its 17 tracks circulate seamlessly from amorphous, evocative vignettes ("The Paths Of Light I") to propulsive, rousing pinnacles ("The Words Of Merchandise"). Along the way is an abundance of rewarding secrets, like Haltli's accordion answering the guttural snarls of a jaguar ("The Jaguar Being Iramari") or the insistent arpeggios of "The Mothokari Sun Being" that flit like fish in a stream. Hole even adds in the liner notes that the peculiar melody of a red-billed toucan reappears throughout the composition.

At a time when the Amazon is headed towards a catastrophic tipping point, increasingly unable to rebound from destruction, it has become easy to despair in the face of impending disaster. Instead,?Roraima presents a clarion call for hope and reorientation toward the natural world.?In Hole's vision, the Amazon is vast, rich with its own characters and customs, at some times fearsome and at others joyful, and ultimately invaluable.

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Track Listing

The Yarori Ancestors; The Hutukara Forest; The Poriporiri Moon Being; The Mothokari Sun Being; The Paths Of Light I; The Evil N? Wari And Xawara Beings; The Presentation Dance; The Paths Of Light II; The Xapiri; The Jaguar Being Iramari; The Amoa Hi Song Tree; The Paths Of light III; The Flowers Of Dream; The Words Of Merchandise; The Shaman?s Death; The Great Mourning Of Roraima; The Falling Sky.

Personnel

Sigurd Hole

bass, acoustic

Frode Haltli

accordion

Trygve Seim

saxophone

Hakon Aase

violin

Helga Myhr

violin

Per Oddvar Johansen

drums

Tanja Orning

cello

Album information

Title: Roraima | Year Released: 2022 | Record Label: Self Produced

Sigurd Hole �� The words of merchandise (feat. Trygve Seim, Frode Haltli, Helga Myhr, H?kon Aase, Per Oddvar Johansen & Tanja Orning)

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