Ditlef Eckhoff

A rare snapshot of Oslo’s late-’60s jazz scene, recorded at the student-run Sogn club. Ditlef Eckhoff’s quintet tears through hard-bop and early freebag, with Knut Riisnæs and Christian Reim in top form.

Jazzaggression Records is back with a live recording from Oslo, Spring 1968. The Ditlef Eckhoff Quintet at Sogn Student Campus brings together Norwegian jazz talents Ditlef Eckhoff (trumpet), Knut Riisnæs (tenor sax), Christian Reim (piano), Tore Nordlie (double bass), and Svein Christiansen (drums).

We’re bummed that Norway never had many standout hard-bop or post-bop albums coming out in the late ’60s. There are a few notable exceptions, but nothing compared to the output in other Nordic jazz scenes. So whenever we dig up something that makes us think, “Hey, this would make a great album” - whether it’s a radio broadcast or a live tape - we do it!

Trapped between the books on Ditlef Eckhoff’s shelf at his residence in Oslo-Holmlia, we found this tape. I looked at the lineup in awe - wow, this looks promising: Norwegian tenor legend Knut Riisnæs, our long-time collaborator Christian Reim (whose funeral I sadly attended this past April), and the backbone of our beloved Erik Andresen release, Svein Christiansen on drums, along with Terje Nordlie on double bass. I opened the casing, and the plastic was still on it. Ditlef said, “I got it after the gig, but I never actually played the tape - I never had a reel-to-reel machine.” The music exceeded all expectations. This needed to be released. Fast forward half a year, and here it is.

The set opens with Ramblin’, moves through I Remember Clifford, and includes a minor-key theme adapted from a Congolese composition by Franco Luambo. The gig closes with a blues number, capturing the quintet at full energy. Recorded by students, the tape has minor imperfections - but that’s part of the charm. This is live jazz as it happened: a snapshot of a young scene doing its thing, raw, immediate, and full of local flavor.