Well established on the new improvisation scene, Food was founded originally as a quartet in 1998, but since 2006 it has worked as a core duo of Norwegian drummer Thomas Str�nen and British saxophonist Iain Ballamy, joined each season by a shifting cast of guests. For this first ECM album those guests were Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molv�r and Austrian guitarist/electronics player Christian Fennesz.
In the augmented duo concept of the current Food, the acoustic elements of the music, with drums, bells, blocks, gongs and lyrical saxophone, are enhanced by the use of live sampling. Molvaer and Fennesz were invited to engage with Food's forward-thinking approach to creating music - using sound, space and texture to create ever-changing atmospheres and environments. Fennesz is featured on three of the seven tracks, Molv�r on four (his most extended appearance on ECM since 'Solid Ether').
'Quiet Inlet', recorded at various locations including the Molde Festival and Oslo's Bl� club in 2007/8, and mixed at Oslo's Rainbow Studio, is Food's sixth album. Previous discs - on the Feral and Rune Grammofon labels - have received very positive press. Now their ECM debut takes the music to the next level. The album will appeal strongly to listeners who enjoyed recent ECM discs from Arve Henriksen (a member of Food for eight years) and Jon Hassell - it features improvisation in a progressive ambient mode, reflective and melodic.
Food are well-known in Britain. Winners of a BBC Radio 3 Innovation Award, last year they appeared with the London Sinfonietta, premiering Iain Ballamy's Gold Acre. Ballamy was previously a member of Django Bates' Loose Tubes big band and Bill Bruford's Earthworks. Str�nen has recorded for ECM with the group Parish (with Bobo Stenson). Fennesz came out of the Vienna techno scene of the 1980s and Molv�r is one of the most influential present-day improvisers. His ECM discography includes Arild Andersen's band Masqualero, as well as the best-selling 'Khmer' and 'Solid Ether', whose mix of post-Miles trumpet, electronics and hiphop beats launched the so-called 'nu jazz' movement.
Personnel: Iain Ballamy (tenor & soprano saxophones), Thomas Str�nen (drums, live electronics), Nils Petter Molv�r (trumpet, electronics), Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics)
