Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A life on the road, a modern view to which the great American, the father of the Beat Generation, Jack Kerouac, would no doubt find daunting to maintain in this combustible and ego driven age; the beat would perhaps be too random to maintain, the exploits and adventures would not only be frowned upon, but there would be placards and demonstrations staged against such a creative artist stepping foot on the highway or even performing words of wisdom for the world.

The application of the words though may change, but the message remains the same, and no amount of demonstrations or rallies will ever silence the creative mind, and on the road is where the thoughts are primed, the ideas honed and the inspired come to pay homage to the multitude, those who see the letters on the page come alive and feel the music play havoc with the heart; these are the beat generation of a new era, and it is one to whom The Ole Frimer Band will pick up the beacon and stoke the fires for the Scandinavian contingent with pride.

Ole Frimer Band’s Live In Eppingen is a testament to the ability to feel the flesh of the song and examine the bones, much in the same way that Kerouac himself was able to forensically, skilfully, get to the essence of humanity in his observations, so to does Ole Frimer through the medium of the Jazz pulse. 

The band, Ole Frimer on guitar and vocal, Niels Ole Thorning on keys and organ, Jesper Byling on bass and Claus Daugaard on drums, convey the flesh of the music intimately, searingly, and across tracks such as The Clearing, Sheltered Roads, Why Are You Stayin’ and extraordinary instrumental interpretations of Eric Clapton’s and Robert Cray’s Old Love, Jeff Beck’s Brush With The Blues and Gwendoline Collins’ Got A Mind To Travel, The Ole Frimer Band don’t just observe, they partake, they get deep into the mindset of the song and point out the often overlooked, that life is meant to be one of the cold thumb braving the rain and conditional, and finding solace in the company of others who have lived on the road.

Live In Eppingen is a reminder of the power of the Scandinavian band, one of fresh beauty that is always on show, always in time and which frames the point of the Kerouac dream, to live and be seen.

Ian D. Hall