Jazzland Recordings

"Mind Vessel” is an album by ambient artist Tortusa and saxophonist Inge W. Breistein. 

After releasing the album "I Know This Place - The Eivind Aarset Collages” on Jazzland Recordings in 2016, electronic musician Tortusa is now back with a cooperative album together with saxophone player Inge W. Breistein. 

The album is mainly composed of saxophone recordings that have been sampled and processed through electronic software and hardware. Larger improvised sections and partial composed melodies blend together through rhythmic repetition, harmonic textures, and ambience. 

The ambience plays an important role and comes naturally from recording in various big rooms at the Cultural Center and former beer brewery Tou Scene in Stavanger. The sound of these rooms are part of the composition, just as the notes being played. And the contrast of natural organic sounds meeting electronic manipulation is an investigation that interests the duo. 

The albums electronic-experimental sound refers to genres such as electronica, ambient, nordic jazz, and minimalism. Inspiration has been found in bands and artists such as Oneotrix Point Never, Xploding Plastix, Brian Eno, Biosphere, Boards of Canada, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, and Jon Hopkins. 

The realasetour for this album will find place in Norway, England and Germany. On stage the duo vary between playing improvised stretches and composed songs. Tortusa live samples Breistein´s saxophone and uses the recordings as his sound pallet for the concert. This creates a very spontaneous performance as most of the electronic sounds are recorded and processed live. Aside from live sampling, Tortusa also uses loops and pre-recorded material and Breistein uses effects to extend the sound of his saxophone. 

Tortusa (alias of John Derek Bishop) is a Norwegian-American electronic musician and composer from Stavanger, Norway. He draws inspiration from classical and jazz music, as well as contemporary electronic music. His compositional method is similar to that of visual collage artists. A cornerstone in Tortusa's production is the texture and timbre of sound. He searches for sounds that are out of the ordinary and play games with the ear. Tortusa´s  previous collage album of guitarist Eivind Aarset´s was nominated for the Spellemann Prize (Norwegian Grammy). 

Inge Weatherhead Breistein is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, electronic musician and composer. He performs and composes music in a wider range of genres where jazz, various kinds of electronic music, experimental pop and free-improvisation can be mentioned. His sound ranges from a warm round tone to more textural and hard hitting expressions. Use of varied contrasting dynamics is a clear feature in his playing. 

The photos for the cover and the booklet are taken, and edited, by Tortusa. 

Websites: www.bishop.no / www.ingewb.com