Needlepoint Slightly Expanded

Freaky and groovy. New and expanded version of Norway's leading progjazzband. Bjørn Klakegg started Needlepoint back in 2010, not least to swap out of a slightly tight genre shirt and into a roomy, prog-patterned sweater. But Needlepoint has matured and developed into something much more than a prog band. They have become an ensemble that elegantly weaves together folk, pop and jazzrock into a melodic and expansive expression. And when Klakegg after a while ventured up to the vocal microphone and revealed a fragile, beautiful Robert Wyatt-like voice, it became very clear that they belong more than anything in a pre-Thatcher English cultural landscape. For this year's festival, Jazzfest in Trondheim commissioned new music for an expanded - slightly expanded - version of Needlepoint. For the premiere at Dokkhuset in May, the band was joined by Erik Sollid from Valkyrien Allstars on tenor guitar and fiddle, and Solveig Wang from Nothing Personal and Fieh on synth and clarinet. In October we get the chance to hear for ourselves.