Post Description

POLARITY has been conceived as a cohesive experience where the compositions themselves, the moments of spontaneous 
inspiration during performance and the natural sound world of the church acoustic all affect the final result. 

"The Elder" was composed in film director Ingmar Bergman's study on the island of Fårö. The ambience in Bergman's house 
and the view of the unending expanse of the Baltic Sea induced in me a sense of melancholy but also an almost ecstatic mood 
that resulted in what is really a homage to the legendary director. The title track "Polarity" started out as an improvisation 
which I was working into a finished melody. We supplemented the ensemble’s palette of sounds by introducing an analogue 
synthesizer that grows in intensity, its sound filling the room with autonomous power. "Justice" is my emotional response 
to the experience of witnessing officialdom intervene in a family situation and how this affected all involved. "Innocence" 
and "Within" both have their take-off point in acutely vulnerable emotional conditions, where to show weakness can be experienced 
as a sign of strength. "Sacred" is based on a simple major and minor tonality, with the synthesizer and the coll'arco bass line 
central elements. The character of "Euphoria" is elated– the spontaneous improvisation between the piano and drums driving the melody 
to a no-holds-barred level of energy. "Beginning", with its minimalistic calm, is in marked contrast; dark melancholy and gloom find 
release in a spirit of reconciliation. "Pathway" is a set of variations on a series of chords; the variations unfold with the piano 
and double bass taking on different roles as the piece develops. "Home" was originally composed as a backdrop to Knut Hamsun's poem
"I ungdommens vår" (In the Spring of Youth) but has been fleshed out to a trio ballad. 
The idea to work on a project for a trio came to me a few years ago, but it is only recently that the idea has really begun 
to take form. The choice of musicians was not difficult, with Audun Kleive and Anders Jormin both having long track records 
on the Scandinavian jazz scene, and both still eager to explore and energize the established trio format. This is the first time
the three of us have made a recording like this together, vacating the usual studio setting in favour of the acoustics of a church. 
My main goal is to create a specific identity for each album and to make the music come alive.


  

Hoff Ensemble:
Jan Gunnar Hoff, piano;
Anders Jormin, bass;
Audun Kleive, drums.

Release date: April 2018
Recording date: September 2017
Location: Sofienberg Church, Norway
Original source: DXD (352.8kHz/24bit)

foobar2000 1.3.16 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2018-04-29 17:45:57
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Analyzed: Hoff Ensemble / POLARITY [an acoustic jazz project]
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DR         Peak         RMS     Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR13      -4.06 dB   -22.81 dB      5:07 01-Innocence
DR15      -2.39 dB   -21.05 dB      4:35 02-Revamp
DR14      -5.91 dB   -24.97 dB      6:45 03-The Elder
DR14      -0.26 dB   -18.05 dB      4:55 04-Polarity
DR12      -7.36 dB   -25.68 dB      3:14 05-Beginning
DR14      -0.51 dB   -17.61 dB      4:53 06-Justice
DR15      -5.33 dB   -24.20 dB      3:43 07-Moving
DR13      -0.23 dB   -15.95 dB      2:43 08-Euphoria
DR16      -0.17 dB   -21.47 dB      6:00 09-Within
DR14      -0.24 dB   -20.42 dB      3:02 10-Sacred
DR17      -1.74 dB   -25.28 dB      7:47 11-Pathway
DR13      -5.47 dB   -24.34 dB      5:56 12-Home
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Number of tracks:  12
Official DR value: DR14

Samplerate:        96000 Hz
Channels:          2
Bits per sample:   24
Bitrate:           2224 kbps
Codec:             FLAC
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