Is It Jazz? Records, the scion of Norways Dark Essence and Karisma Records, launch their first release today, with the self-titled debut album from Norwegian Jazz Prog Rockers Soft Ffog.
The full album is up for streaming now, listen to it right here: https://isitjazzrecords.fanlink.to/SoftFfog_Album
The band tells us about their debut: “Have you ever wondered what it would sound like if Jimi Hendrix joined Deep Purple and aimed at sounding like Gentle Giant – but failing miserably in the attempt because too much jazz was consumed lately? Probably not, but anyhow, Soft Ffog´s sound is unique, and draws parallels with the aforementioned acts somewhat in style, compositions and aesthetics, but is more rooted in jazz – with prolonged solos and improvisations.“
Soft Ffog‘s genesis in 2016 was somewhat unusual in that it came about as a one-off gig commissioned by the Kongsberg Jazz Festival. Despite the success of this event, the band did not get the momentum it needed to be a proper working entity, and, combined with the busy schedules of the respective musicians, each with their other bands and projects, Soft Ffog only played gigs every now and then. Playing live, did however, help to define and refine the band’s sound, so much so, infact, that founder Tom Hasslan decided that 2020 was the right time for Soft Ffog to record their first album.
The band consists of Tom Hasslan (Krokofant) who also wrote the album, on guitars, Axel Skalstad (Krokofant) on drums, Trond Frønes (Red Kite, Grand General) on bass and Vegard Lien Bjerkan (Wizrd) on keyboards. It’s safe to say that individually the members of Soft Ffog have probably played with everyone in the Norwegian Jazz scene, and now they have a vehicle that allows them to do their own thing. By combining influences from King Crimson with Terje Rypdal, Deep Purple with Pat Metheny, Soft Ffog have produced an album of blistering guitar solos, gnarly bass, crazy drums and supersonic keyboard playing!
Recorded at Studio Paradiso with Christian Engfelt engineering and producing, and mastered by Herbrand Larsen, and with artwork by Tor Einar Evju and layout by Tom Korsvold, the album will be released in CD and LP formats and is now available to order from: https://softffog.bandcamp.com/album/soft-ffog