OLA KVERNBERG

Steamdome II: The Hypogean GRAPPA MUSIC

BNorwegian jazz maestro progs things up.

est known in his Norwegian homeland for his virtuosic string swing violin playing and as a jazz musician and film composer, Ola Kvernberg fell in love with synths and sequencers, and in 2017 released his first album in the Steamdome series, thus opening him up to a more progressively minded audience. Four years later, this follow-up builds on those foundations, a set of ear-pleasing long-form musical workouts that at times bring to mind Vangelis, Jean-Michel Jarre and even Peter Bardens’ work with Camel. For the most part, Steamdome II: The Hypogean operates in a distinctly

proggy field, but with occasional shifts that make the overall sound even more refreshing. Opener Arpy diverts itself through a techno-style percussive breakdown, Get Down squelches away like prime Jarre, and while both Carbanado and the title track reflect Kvernberg’s jazz roots, there’s more than a hint of Camel drifting through them as well. The epic Devil Worm sounds like something Wakeman or Emerson might have concocted for an 80s movie score and Kvernberg’s own violin adds a Jean-Luc Ponty vibe to Diamondiferous. In all, a delight.