Olaf Tarenskeen - Human Download

Olaf Tarenskeen is a guitarist who succeeds in combining the best of two worlds. On the one hand he is rooted in the tradition of the “classical guitar”, from which he borrows aspects of technique and the tonal form. On the other hand, he is solidly into modern jazz and is as naturally at home with freely improvised material as he is in classic “mainstream swinging”. By the same token, he is everything but a typical jazz guitarist tapping into the repertoire of the much-played standards. Only a single piece from this genre, "Alice In Wonderland", can be heard on "Human Download", albeit in a highly creative solo arrangement. Tarenskeen is a magician of the acoustic guitar, who conjures compositions from his nylon- and steelstring guitar that have musical depth but are by no means tiresome. The sound, the groove, the especially developed sense for delicate contrasts all join to make this album a special delight for the ear. Olaf Tarenskeen is an unusually talented musician, who is perfectly capable of guiding jazzy performances on the acoustic guitar to new heights without falling prey to clichés. Press review "Olaf Tarenskeen is a guitarist who succeeds in combining the best of two worlds. On the one hand he is imbued with the tradition of the classical guitar, borrowing aspects of technique and intonation. On the other hand he is solidly implanted in modern jazz and has just as elegant a command of free improvisation as he does of classic ‘mainstream swingers’." (Vintage Guitar News)