AMGALA TEMPLE
Worship at the shape-shifting altar of Jaga Jazzist man Lars Horntveth’s free-jazz trio.
“When we started to play together we realised we had great chemistry.”
To a trio from chilly Norway, an oasis town in the Western
Sahara desert seems quite exotic. Exotic enough to name your band after it, and add a little more mystery with the inclusion of a sacred building. Say ‘ahlan!’ to Amgala Temple; the Arabian-perfumed jazz prog improv group made up of respected players Lars Horntveth (bass, winds, synths), Gard Nilssen (drums) and Amund Maarud (guitar).
Horntveth’s brainchild, the band convened as a fun sideline to the members’ regular stints with Jaga Jazzist, Susanne Sundfør, Bushman’s Revenge, even a-ha.
“Me and Gard have played on a bunch of different things since 2008,” Horntveth says. “We always talked about making a band together with a more open structure than usual. We just needed to find a guitarist.”
After a try-out at the bassist’s Oslo studios, Maarud was selected, his blues roots suiting the group’s earthy, 60s tone. “We’re inspired by the older wave of Norwegian jazz,” says Horntveth, “Terje Rypdal and retro sounds, then Elephant9, of course.”
After five live shows, the strength of this collaboration has yielded enough material for a debut album, Invisible Airships, which they recently toured, alongside improvised sessions. And improv does seem a scary place.
“It depends who you’re playing with,” Horntveth laughs. “It’s pretty risky and there’s times I wanted to get the hell out of there. But when it’s good it’s can be really good. Luckily, when we started to play together we realised we had great chemistry.”
To switch things up from the usual guitar-drums-bass combo, the trio bring lots more instruments into the mix. Horntveth, for example, is better known for his 25 years on winds in Jaga Jazzist. “What we all did in Jaga was learn new instruments as a challenge to ourselves,” he says. “I play sax and clarinet when the song needs that, but I also play what I can to make the song sound like I want it. In Amgala Temple, I’m on bass but I go into electronics too.
“So we can be all-out Hendrix,” he says, “or explore new things that surprise ourselves as well as the audience. Improv makes things exciting.” JK
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