WILD MAN RIDDIM – Worldwide Frequency – LP

Label: Brixton Records
Code: BR-042-LP
Format: LP vinyl
Release: 7/09/2017

Brage Rognlien (trombone) was looking for a band to perform at the nightly sessions at The Villa club in Oslo. Together with Martin Caspersen (organ), they began calling up old friends and managed to bring together the leading ska and reggae musicians from the Oslo scene. Wild Man Riddim (WMR) was thus formed as the resident band at The Villa, with a repertoire comprising Brage’s compositions, old jazz standards with a Jamaican twist, and plenty of scope for improvisation. The band later performed as a backing band for Essa Cham, Kasimba, Nico D, Admiral P, Jah Ark Manifest and other artists at the Horten Roots & Reggae Festival in the summer of 2013.

In December 2013, the band recorded their first album, simply titled “Wild Man Riddim”, for MarsMelon Records, featuring a blend of ska, jazz, Afrobeat and hip hop. Since then, WMR have continued to hone their live performances and create new compositions, which now form their new album, titled WORLDWIDE FREQUENCY.

“Worldwide Frequency” is the result of carefully planned ideas and spontaneous moments of improvisation. It was recorded in the old-school style: live, in seven hours, and on tape. The album showcases WMR delving deeper into the fusion of ska, jazz and reggae, unashamedly demonstrating the bridge they have built by uniting the tradition of the Scandinavian school of jazz with the fiery passion of Jamaican ska and reggae..