Anne Mette Iversen Quartet: "Many Places"

Anne Mette Iversen Quartet has made three records together and toured once a year in Europe the past three years. "Many Places" compiles music from various periods of these three years, and on this recording the quartet has matured into one unit, one voice, one identity; speaking in the musical language of Anne Mette Iversen, but flavored with the individual voices of each band member.

There are no overall programmatic idea to the album "Many Places", but rather different personal stories behind each tune.
"Many Places" toys with the theme that one can settle down many places, i.e. anywhere, and create an "at home" feeling; because man can adopt to any situation as long as one stays true to oneself and one's own needs.  "2004" is simply a description of a certain swinging moment; "Milo Man" is a reflection and an ode to Anne Mette's first born son; and "Out the Atlantic" is saying goodbye to life on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.  "Pjerrot's Smile" is the comic teasing figure that will run around iin circles with you; and "Sambavian" is an "attempt gone off track" to express Anne Mette's love for Brazilian music. The three tunes "Cataldo One", "Cataldo Ballad" and "The Square in Ravello" are all composed during an artist residency on the Amalfi Coast in Italy in 2006. They are respectively 1) trying to catch the hectic New York atmosphere from afar, 2) capturing the beauty of the Amalfi Coast, and 3) watching the children in play on the center square in front of the church in Ravello.

Press about "Best of the West + Many Places"

"Bassist/composer Anne Mette Iversen shows a masterful reach across jazz and classical music in "Best of the West", the sumptuous suite that opens this two-disc set." ... "Iversen merges her own inventive quartet with the string ensemble 4Corners in a beautiful, shape-shifting pas de deux, each half of the double-quartet twining about the other in a breathtaking dialogue. Leaving the strings behind for the second disc, Iversen's group alternates between forecful postbop themes, aching ballads and darting, slippery grooves." - Forest Dylan Bryant, JazzTimes, Aug '08

"Few other arrangers can deter schmaltz when putting strings to swing. And even fewer possess her sense for dulcet harmonies and exquisitely developed form — the patient listener is rewarded with a probing, big-R Romantic, strings-only cadenza at the end. Rarer still is the mind that could put it all together in a way that proclaims itself as the work of an improvising musician. Beauty may be hard to find in jazz, but as Iversen proves, that doesn't mean it's dormant in familiar elements, waiting to be expressed." - Patrick Jarenwattananon, NPR Music, May '08

"While all of the double quartet compositions are excellent, "North (Presto)" is absolutely electrifying. In place of a catchy jazz head, a la Art Blakey, Iversen offers a frenetic Bartok-like unison string riff, ornately framing the jazz band's passages. The second disc, "Many Places", showcases the talents of John Ellis (saxophones), Danny Grissett (piano), and Otis Brown III (drums) on nine adventurous tunes with plenty of room for superb solos." - Ron Netsky, Rochester City Newspaper, July '08

"Bursting with creativity" ... "A nice ear-opener for fans looking for a challenging, new composer." - Chris Spector, Midwest Records

"Both discs area a creative succes, and both are enjoyable demonstrations of what Iversen has to offer an as acoustic bassist, composer, producer and arranger." - Alex Henderson, allmusic.com

"An intelligent blend of classical and jazz componenets" ... "This music has tension and resolution, has complex melodies that don't just serve as springboard for solos." - Richard Kamins, Hartford Courant, March '08

"By turns rhapsodic and pulsing, it's a most impressive package." - Paul Blair, Hot House, May '08

"This double album is particularly fascinating. Cd one is devoted to a four-movement symphony for double qyúartet. Now there have been umpteen instances of "jazzing the classics" dating back to Paul Whiteman in 1928 and most have been unsuccessful musical compromises. Anne Mette Iversen's venture is definitely an exception...The standard of improvisation is remarkably good throughout. A very pleasant double surprise." - JazzWise, UK, Aug '08

"The music is "tough" and melodic and reminds me of the superb quartet Eastern Rebellion with George Coleman, Billy Higgins, Sam Jones and Cedar Walton"..."Best of the West + Many Places beautifully paints the picture of whom Anne Mette Iversen is, anno 2008." - Jazznytt, Norway, Dec '08