Norwegian jazz is as vital as ever and one can but wonder where it all comes from. With Night Owl, their second album for Rune Grammofon, Eyolf Dale (29) and André Roligheten (29) are already five albums into their career and showing a maturity in writing and playing that is betraying their age considerably. Their previous album, Tree House with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, also showed that they can write for a large ensemble, this being a commissioned work from Molde International Jazz Festival in 2013. Night Owl was recorded at Fattoria Musica in rural Osnabrück, Germany, a studio that has hosted many famous musicians and is known for its top quality equipment and ambiance. The music can be described as contemporary jazz with threads to both American and European traditions - highly original, structured compositions paired with improvisation; playful and melodic, modern and accessible. Eyolf and André met at school in the small town of Skien and have played together since the age of seventeen. The duo formally started in 2006, followed by rehearsals and concerts. They won the annual JazzIntro prize at Molde Int. Jazz Festival in 2008 and the best band category at the European Jazz Competition at the North Sea Jazz in 2009, with jury leader Maria Schneider commenting most original, great interplay and amazing improvisation, effective and colourful compositions. The same year also saw the release of their debut album Seagull Island followed by Mystery Orchestra with Grenager & Tafjord (2010), both receiving great reviews, the latter named best Norwegian jazz record of the year in national paper Dagsavisen. Grenager and Tafjord are both founder members of SPUNK, the all female impro quartet that has released eight albums on Rune Grammofon Style: Jazz