SERENDIPITIES

Finally, my new soloalbum will be released on the 23 of May 2025. The title Serendipities encompasses well the essence of my approach to making this album, letting the music take me to novel interesting places, through a flow of consciousness and unconsciousness I have improvised freely and just let the music do it´s thing.

«The photo on the front cover is a cherished memory from 1974, captured by my mother. It features my dad and me, right at the moment I think I decided I wanted to become a guitarist and musician. This album is a reflection of my nearly 50-year journey with a guitar in my hands. Each of these spontaneous improvisations holds a piece of all the music I’ve studied, absorbed, and internalized along the way. Some of my favorite moments in life is when I can simply sit down and play—no plans, no fears, no intentions. It’s in those times of flow that conscious and unconscious choices, along with a touch of chance, lead me to new musical discoveries»

The album is available for streaming and download, and on CD and Vinyl at my Bandcamp page https://oleandrefarstad.bandcamp.com/album/serendipities-2

( with the best streaming and download sound quality 48/24 )

And of course also available on all the major streaming platforms.

Some more background on the tracks from Serendipities:

FLUX

The opening track is an almost 10 minute improvisation on the nylon string guitar. From I was very young I started studying classical guitar pieces, and reached the level where I took a bachelors exam at UIA back in 1998, parallel to doing my jazz studies. I have always loved classical guitar music, from modern pieces to baroque and Spanish and Latin American romantic pieces. I love Bach and I regularly play the Chaconne for my own pleasure, I just love to be in that music,it’s just out of this world beautiful. During my study days I also fell in love with Flamenco and I have a 27 year relationship to that music through my connections in Cadiz with Andres Martinez and Oscar Lago, today two of the most prominent flamenco guitarists on the scene, playing for Sara Baras and Rocio Molina. Paco de Lucia was of course the door opener into that world, and like many he is the number one nylon string player for me. I was never a big fan of the classical guitar estetiques, I like it more “dirty” and explosive, like Paco, such a out of this world control over the instrument and on his older days, a complete musician, his compositions, his dynamic playing and maturity leaves me mesmerised. His step into the jazz world with John McLaughlin was also a big factor.

Now that is the backdrop for my playing this way, and of course a few other influences, like African guitar playing, and of course Keith Jarrett and his solo improvising records, no introduction needed for this giant. I have listen so much to his playing and it has always been a dream to be able to improvise something close to his way, that is still a dream I very much reach for, but know I will never accomplish. But hey, I can have fun trying:)

I play like this a lot, to myself, with the nylon string guitar, on the sofa at home, I like to just noodle without having to play something specific, a piece or improvise in a certain style or within frames. Of course the guitar has it’s ideomatic ways, like the open strings for example and there is a lot of muscle memory and habits in play that are inevitable, but there is also a layer where I can take those things to new places, force myself into going down new paths, risky at times but very rewarding when you stumble upon something new and fresh. So this exercise is very fun and a real headrush that needs the total absorption into the activity, hence nice to do by myself, very scary to do infant of others:)

The piece is two improvisations put together, maybe you can hear where the second recording starts? I was interrupted recording the first one, and took it up again later. But there is no editing apart from that, just the flow of ideas that came there and then.

FRACTAL

Here I played around with a drop D tuning on the acoustic steel string, and I used a Hologram pedal that samples and granulates, pitching up and down, speeding up and down in random ways. This little riff came floating and I stuck around that and just improvised along those few chords that kind of made a theme.

WABI SABI

Over to the electric guitar. I was first playing around with a