Having played a handful sensational gigs as Kenneth Kapstad Group this impressive line-up is now ready with a more fitting name for their debut album. Ola Kvernberg (31) comes from a family of musicians and started classical violin studies at the age of nine. He also played folk music early on and appeared on record when fourteen. He started playing jazz at the age of sixteen and got his education at the Jazz Academy in Trondheim, breeding ground for many great musicians.

His proper breakthrough came with the album ”Liarbird” (2010) which won him a Norwegian Grammy and was received with wide acclaim both in Norway and abroad. As with so many musicians of his generation he has played with ”everybody”, recently he is notably featured on Motorpsycho´s ”The Death Defying Unicorn”. Even Helte Hermansen (30) is guitarist extraordinarie in powerjazztrio Bushman´s Revenge with four albums on Rune Grammofon.

A former member of blackjazzers Shining he grew up listening to everything from Kiss and Pantera to Frank Zappa and John Coltrane. Erlend Slettevoll (32) is yet another graduate from the Jazz Academy in Trondheim. He has worked with several of Norway´s most accomplished jazz ensembles, most notably as a member of The Core and Petter Wettre Quartet.

Trond Frønes (34) is the main writer in Grand General and known from bands like Cadillac, El Doom & The Born Electric and lately doom metal trio Sunswitch. Kenneth Kapstad (33) is a permanent member of Motorpsycho since the creative burst that started with their ”Little Lucid Moments” album in 2008.

He also plays in the extreme metal duo Monolithic with Stian Westerhus, the death/trash metal band Goat The Head with Trond Frønes and Møster! with Kjetil Møster (Ultralyd) and Nikolai Eilertsen (Elephant9). With a violinist on board it´s difficult not to mention the Mahavishnu Orchestra when trying to place Grand General in a musical perspective.

However, as gifted as these musicians are and as accomplished the music can be, you never get the feeling that they play to show off their instrumental skills, but to serve the music.

Tracklisting:
Side A:
1. Antics
2. The Fall Of Troy
3. Clandestine

Side B:
1. Tachyon
2. Ritual
3. Red Eye

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