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Jo Berger Myhre — Penta
(RareNoise RNR139, 2026, CD / LP / DL)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2026-06-14

Penta Cover art

Following half a dozen or so collaborations with other composers and players, Norwegian bassist and composer Jo Berger Myrhe has released his third solo album on RareNoise, a follow-up to 2021’s Unheimlich Manoeuvre and 2025’s Live Manoeuvres (recorded in February 2023). Many of the same players from his live band return here: Jo David Meyer Lysne plays acoustic and electric guitars, una corda piano, resonating strings, and home-made motorized installations; Morton Qvenild plays grand piano and synthesizer; Kaveh Mahmudiyan on Iranian percussion instruments (tombak, daf, bendir); and Myhre plays double bass, eight-string bass guitar, drum machines, and additional synthesizers. In addition, guest Synnøve Sætre provides some multi-tracked wordless vocals on “Augmentations in G flat,” the album’s longest piece at well over twelve minutes. Between the bowed double bass, eight string bass, extended guitar techniques and Iranian percussion, there is a diverse array of unusual sounds coming together across these seven tracks, such that it puts it far outside the standard jazz idiom, in fact it’s often closer to electric chamber music. Qvenild’s synthesizers alone on “Abyss In B Flat Minor” seem both otherworldly and orchestral. With strong evidence of extended piano techniques, strangely processed noise elements, alongside the percussion on “Melody and Arpeggios” make it one of the most interesting pieces of the bunch, imbued with some of the strangest electronic sounds. Throughout, Penta bears a strong emphasis on lower-end sounds with the basses taking prominence, but Myhre even offers a solo track on the eight-string electric bass, a brilliant demonstration of what the instrument is capable of in the right hands. Approaching the eleven minute mark “Ancohemitonic Turn of Events” is a multi-sectional epic that has something new and curious to offer at every turn, with every player contributing something interesting.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Jo Berger Myhre

More info
http://jobergermyhre.bandcamp.com/album/penta

 

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