With Paal Nilssen-Love Circus Kaap & Oorstof/SiM open their first collaboration of the new year an absolute bang:

“Paal Nilssen-Love Circus gives us a dance party, and it hurts to stay seated with music like this. Riffs from Ethio-jazz and Brazilian rhythms float in a wild, freely improvised nude bath!” Torkjell Hovland

PAAL NILSSEN-LOVE CIRCUS FT. SIGNE EMMELUTH – JULIANA VENTER – KALLE MOBERG – CHRISTIAN MEAAS SVENDSEN – THOMAS JOHANSSON

Paal Nilssen-Love Circus emerged as a direct result of the travel restrictions caused by the corona pandemic. The Oslo World Music Festival asked the Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love (Large Unit, Lean Left, Arashi, …) to put together a new band of musicians based in Norway. He came up with players from different camps, experienced in various styles: ethnic, classical, contemporary, jazz, free jazz, noise, pop etc: Juliana Venter (vocals), Thomas Johansson (trumpet), Signe Emmeluth (alto saxophone), Kalle Moberg (accordion) and Christian Meaas Svendsen (double bass & bass guitar)

The seven unique voices were gathered around common musical ideas and ways of thinking and a shared understanding of musical freedom. Each musician with a responsibility for the musical development, each with a mission to surprise each other and the audience as well. For this ensemble, Nilssen-Love wrote compositions that are like maps with freedom for each musician to choose direction and intensity. Circus’ first album ‘Pairs Of Three’, was released on PNL records in 2022.

Nilssen-Love draws on inspiration from tours and studies over the past years in Ethiopia and Brazil, in addition to his long-standing fascination for music from Mali and Senegal. But all is rooted in a broad defined improvised music. This makes Circus a highly unpredictable band – exciting, intense, exhilarating, touching on different feelings which can be sad as well as fun – indeed, watching them live is like going to the circus!

The band’s premiere made a huge impression on audience and press alike and was by many considered the highlight of the Olso World Music Festival. Bear in mind that this was during COVID19-restrictions with a limited seated audience:

“Jungle fever in the circus: The cheering lifted the roof during this concert and it’s a miracle that we didn´t all descend to civil disobedience, kicked down the tables and started dancing.” Audun Vinger, Jazz i Norge