(originally published at Avant Music News)
Oslo’s All Ears Festival roared back to life last night, opening this year’s proceedings with a duo performance pairing pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love. After missing 2025, All Ears has a new home, a cozy space in the foyer of the Kunstnernes Hus art gallery.
Schlippenbach has ascended to legend status: His Pakistani Pomade, with Evan Parker and Paul Lovens, dates to 1972. The Globe Unity Orchestra goes back even further. At the age of 87, he still tours regularly, with a Globe Unity 60-year reunion slated for the fall.
Offstage, the German looks his age. At the piano, the years fall away. Schlippenbach is, as ever, a font of ideas. His most common mode last night was the juxtaposition of angular, often Monk-tinged, lines in the right hand with tone clusters in the left. If he has made any concession to age, it is to concentrate his playing in the center of the piano: He rarely strayed beyond the middle four octaves of the instrument, though with no negative effect.
Schlippenbach also reversed some of the usual dynamics of piano-drums duos. Often, it is the percussionist who nudges his fellow improvisor, urging him to greater heights. Last night, those nudges came from the piano. Nilssen-Love--who could overpower your typical symphony orchestra--began the evening careful to let the pianist set the tone. Yet Schlippenbach seemed to tire of anything so subdued: He often fell into percussive figures, one eyebrow suggestively raised in the direction of the drum kit.
For his part, Nilssen-Love arrived ready for anything. Perhaps realizing that his partner would have 88 keys as his disposal, he brought nearly as many objects for himself. I counted nine cymbals and five gongs, along with assorted toys. While the duo setting and the relatively small space stopped him from going all out, PNL had an endless array of colors to explore.
The pair opened with about 45 minutes of uninterrupted playing, followed by several shorter pieces. The crowd seemed more enthusiastic after each one, especially after Schlippenbach produced a fairly straight-ahead post-bop tune. Nilssen-Love appeared to enjoy the performance as much as anyone.
The All Ears Festival continues throughout the weekend. If last night’s reception was any indication, the event will have plenty of momentum headed into 2027, and a newly high bar for next year’s opening-night performance.