Philip Granly  Trio

Philip Granly Trio

Our music

What do you think is beautiful?
Schubert's string quintet in C major is one of the most beautiful compositions I know. His creative use of the two cellos, and the way in which all the voices complement each other is simply breath-taking. The quintet is both fragile and beautiful. However, I also find Oscar Peterson Trio featuring Stan Getz equally mesmerising. The way the instruments improvise together, the magical sound of Stan Getz' horn and Peterson’s swingin' triplets – also give me a fragile and beautiful music experience.

These examples are both beautiful, they are however two different kinds of ‘beautiful’. On the one hand you have the controlled beauty of classical music, on the other the raw, improvised beauty of jazz music. So why do I feel equally passionate about both of them? Why do I want to combine the beauty of both these worlds, yet have a hard time finding that possible? And are they really two completely different worlds? This has been the main objective of my musical research during the past years, and I finally feel that many of the pieces of this musical puzzle are coming together. I have gradually come to find my own definition of beauty in each genre and have gained confidence and experience in the creative possibilities this amalgamation offers. My aim is to share this experience with my audience giving them the opportunity to enjoy the musical combination of the beauty of chamber music and the beauty of energetic swing.

How do you work?

The process begins with my taking a deep dive into a chosen segment of classical music of personal interest and importance. My aim is to find reasons for my preferred taste can be a long and strenuous process of self-examination. Why do I like this, why do I like it so much and why does it resonate and strike a chord? 
Only through being brave enough to question one’s inner self and one’s own reactions to the music of choice is it possible to navigate through this unknown territory and hopefully find answers. When I started this process I immediately came to understand that there was no one, universal or correct answer to this question. The way we perceive music, whether we find it beautiful or not, can only be found deep in our true selves. Music evokes emotions. But clearly, which emotions the musical experience awakens within us will vary from person to person. The feeling of beauty I find in a piece may be perceived as a dissonance to another listener. It is safe to say that beauty is not objective, merely in the ear of the beholder.
 
Nonetheless, there will of course be certain compositions which are more universally acclaimed, such as Mozart's 40th symphony for example. From the first minor chord in the first bar, Mozart fills me with a sensation of melancholy, a sensation which continues right through the first ten notes. One might expect a more cheerful, response to this musical intro from Mozart, but no. The following bars lead me even deeper into the darkness. But then, just as the theme repeats itself, at the very top of the musical landscape, a glimpse of hope appears. A soft, yet determined tone emerges with the flute, clarinet and bassoon playing a concluding phrase to the melody in octaves. A ray of hope materializes and sheds its light over the melancholy opening. Pure magic if you ask me, and nothing but pure beauty. To this day, Mozart's 40th symphony fills concert halls all over the world. It is just as beautiful in 2021 as it was in 1788 when he composed it.  It is as if the symphony has become a kind of time machine, creating musical ties between every person who has ever listened to it through time right up to the present day. 
After having studied a classical piece, dissected it and processed all my thoughts and emotions, I can slowly separate and extract each and every musical ingredient I have found, and incorporate this fusion of the two worlds into my compositions - a fusion that points both backwards and forwards in time and that plays on nostalgic and contemporary traits and characteristics.

Where has this process led you so far?

I occasionally have felt that some aspects of jazz lack the elegance I have more frequently experienced in classical music. It has also struck me that classical music often lacks the musical curiosity and the unexpected turns jazz is full of. This has led me to dream of, and have as a longstanding goal, to be able to combine the best of both worlds. To both swing one’s soul and heart out while still aiming to convey elegance and beauty. There must be a way of improvising on the spur of the moment something reminiscent of chamber music, where the three musicians hand in hand explore the unknown rooted in a chamber- music format. This is what Philip Granly Trio strives to do. I have my musical background in two different worlds: in the beautiful, but meticulously-groomed and undeniably-stiff classical world, and in the curious and creative jazz world where the idea of thinking in a style more like chamber music was non-existent. I yearn to experience that moment where the two worlds melt into a single euphoria of beauty, co-existence, creativity and improvisation.  

As you will hear in my music, there are references to several different classical epochs and jazz traditions. Yet I am consciously working on incorporating a substantial part of who I am in everything I play and compose. I was fortunate enough to be accepted at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology’s Jazz program in Trondheim straight from high school, and I completed my bachelor’s degree in 2019. My time there was, among other things, spent studying different traits and traditions through listening and transcribing numerous compositions from the jazz repertoire, day and night for three years. I am now left with a considerable amount of material, both jazz and classical music, that I am slowly puzzling together, piece by piece. This approach is quite unique to the Philip Granly Trio in that not many jazz musicians have chosen this explorative path before. The classical elements are apparent in both my compositions and improvisations. 
 
As one music critic observed,    
  "The trio has such an interactive chemistry it almost seems as if one of the three can just choose to open a door to see what happens - and it happens, continuously. Their listening skills are so apparent, their empathy too, leading to numerous delightful three-way conversations."