Jan Erik Kongshaug
The Other World

"Recorded At Rainbow Studio, Oslo. Engineer: Jan Erik Kongshaug." These credits on a CD cover have become a hallmark of sophisticated jazz and folk recordings at the highest level of audio quality. After years of freelance work at the New York Power Plant Station, sound engineer Jan Eric Kongshaug began building his own empire in Oslo in 1983. The Rainbow Studio was born, and it has since become a top destination for high-quality music recordings, achieving legendary status. In terms of sound quality, dynamics, and spatiality, Kongshaug's recordings are unparalleled and highly esteemed by discerning audiophiles. Numerous ECM albums have been and continue to be recorded there. ACT has also produced several notable jazz recordings at the studio, including Bugge Wesseltoft's "It's Snowing On My Piano" and his duo with Henning Kraggerud, "Last Spring," Esbjörn Svensson and Nils Landgren's "Layers Of Light," Christof Lauer's Sting Project "Shadows In The Rain" with Jens Thomas, and last year's "Oslo" by the Michael Wollny Trio. However, what few outside of Norway may know is that Jan Erik Kongshaug, born in 1944, earned a living as a musician long before his career as a sound engineer and has never put his guitar down for an extended period of time. "The Other World" was his debut album, released in 1999 on ACT, and it has now been reissued on vinyl in celebration of Kongshaug's 75th birthday.