Sharing the essence of the Lydian Chromatic Concept throughout Oslo, March 20 - 29, 2025

Andy standing in front of THE ROYAL PALACE in Oslo, Norway on March 21st, 2025.

When the magnanimous creative genius and music legend George Russell lived and worked in Norway and Sweden in the 1960s, his wisdom and innovations influenced an entire generation of musical artists. Through his compositions and live performances, his own artistry was elevated to another level of greatness. At the same time, his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization took root and spread to a wider audience than solely in the U.S.

Fast forward to 2025, when I was invited as a “homecoming” representative of Maestro Russell’s treatise of tonal gravity to Norway, and lovingly hosted with the utmost dignity and respect by my esteemed LCCOTO students Helge Lien, Jane Helen Johansen and Olav Torget.

Helge Lien is a true national treasure of Norway’s multifaceted and pan-stylistic arts community, and honored as a valuable faculty member at the Norwegian Academy of Music where he teaches piano (his main instrument), composition and the LCCOTO. He spearheaded the group by making all the connections and arrangements for every event - all of which occurred without a glitch and at the highest degree of success for all concerned. He and I co-presented the entire week in the most effortless manner imaginable.

Jane Helen Johansen is a phenomenal multi-instrumentalist of both acoustic and electronic worlds who composes, mixes and masters profoundly unique musical tracks exploring the magnetic fields of tonal gravity streaming on Spotify. She is also an acclaimed vegan chef who was gracious enough to prepare amazing food for some of the events during the week. Along with her partner Espen Norderud, Jane documented the week’s activities with photos and videos.

Prior to studying The Concept with me, Olav Torget has been an independent musician since the early nineties playing electric and acoustic guitars and the West African konting (ngoni). He learned music at the University of Oslo with guitarists Knut Værnes, Bjørn Klakegg and Staffan William-Olsson. Olav also studied West African music in Senegal and Gambia with Amadou A. Gueye. I had the great pleasure of hearing him perform during the week with an arts-in-education program at an elementary school as a member of the Diom de Kossa band featuring Kossa Diomande on Yadoh drums.

As you will read in subsequent posts with all the details about my week in Oslo on this NEWS blog, this exuberant week was filled to the limit with activities that included these events awakening George Russell’s vertical consciousness to receptive and appreciative audiences in an array of venues:

Sunday 23.03.2025 - Seminar Day One  6 hours

Monday 24.03.2025 - Seminar Day Two  5 hours

• Two day seminar at Urban Sound recording studio

Tuesday 25.03.2025

• Interview with Jazznytt (Jazz News) Magazine

• Podcast interview with “Breath For Life” program

• Radio Interview at NRK (Norwegian National Broadcasting)

Wednesday 26.03.2025

• Day 1 of 2 at Norwegian Academy of Music (for faculty and students)

• Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria Jazz Club: lecture/demo/concert

Thursday 27.03.2025

• Day 2 of 2 at Norwegian Academy of Music (classes and forum)

20 talented participants immersed in a Tonal Gravity Field of Unity: an intensive 11 hour workshop on March 23 & 24

The kind people at Urban Sound recording studio in Oslo - with a special shout-out to our gracious and hardworking host Aleksander Sjølie - made one of their rooms available as a very intimate and acoustically gorgeous setting for our two day seminar. (The grand piano in that Studio Room was outstanding!) The participants who purchased tickets to attend represented a wide range of ages, musical backgrounds and interests who wanted to know more about George Russell’s life work in the field of tonal gravity.

The mood was very relaxed and cordial, with a feeling of unity shared by all as both Helge Lien and I went into great depth about the fundamental ideas and structure of “The Concept”, the principal scales and tonal orders, and history of Russell’s experience in Norway during the years 1965 - 69. 

Musical scholar Johan Hauknes was very generous to contribute to the event not only by his presence on both days, but to create and share a fascinating historical research article he wrote on George Russell’s time in Scandinavia, which was given as a booklet to all participants along with other handout documents we created pertaining to the study of the LCCOTO. Everyone was encouraged to visit George Russell's new official website and purchase the latest edition of the book directly from Concept Publishing.

We had many breaks when everyone had a chance to get to know each other and talk about what we were learning, while being fed delicious food prepared by Jane Helen Johansen, who herself is an amazing musician currently studying The Concept with me during weekly lessons on Google Meet video chat.

There were also a few jam sessions where people got a chance to play their instruments and improvise using chord/scale unity and tonal gravity relationships. And we helped to clarify and dispel the myths perpetuated by all the false news, misguided, ill-informed and disparaging information (primarily click-bait) that permeates YouTube and circulating around the internet on the deep subject of The Lydian Chromatic Concept in order to give Maestro Russell the dignity and respect his fifty years of work deserves.

After the 2-day, 11 hours together, the consensus among everyone involved was that this was an environment that inspired unity, while being uplifted in vertical time, experienced as joy and gratitude for Russell’s life work. Many of the participants were eager to continue the communication and connection by going out to congregate at a club at the conclusion of the experience to talk and share insights about the meaningful ideas absorbed during the seminar. People hung out for a few hours of lively conversation.

I've since heard through the grapevine that quite a few of the seminar participants are already hoping to join a future follow-up seminar to continue our exploration and kinship in tonal gravity. At that same time, many professional musicians who were too busy to attend are inquiring as to when I will return to schedule another seminar in the future. So stay tuned...and, as George said: "keep listening to the silence."

JAZZNYTT: Norway's only magazine and journal about jazz, celebrating jazz as an open, versatile art form of contemporary music.

Jazznytt staff writer Filip Roshauw scheduled a visit to my hotel room for a wonderfully interactive, in-depth interview with myself and Helge Lien. The magazine was very interested in bringing attention to the history behind George Russell’s work on the Lydian Chromatic Concept, its influence on Norwegian jazz musicians, and my activities as a visiting artist to Oslo. Both Helge, Filip and myself exchanged ideas and information throughout a lively dialogue that lasted over two hours. Filip posed extremely hip, intelligent and beautifully articulated questions of meaningful intent regarding George's life, the development of his landmark Concept and our dedication to the mission in maintaining its integrity and legacy for people in Norway and around the world.

You can read the entire 22 page article here (with some great archival photos of George) in this PDF reader below, which is translated from its original publication in Norwegian to English.

Exploring extra-musical connections of the LCCOTO with  podcast host Marianne Magelssen in an episode entitled

"THE LISTENING EXPERIENCE"

Within the principal of tonal gravity and chord/scale unity of a theoretical nature, George Russell’s Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization intention is to cultivate artistic evolution and innovation through awareness of deeply meaningful interconnections via philosophical, psychological and metaphysical ideas. It is no wonder then that I was invited, along with Helge Lien, to be a guest on the podcast series “Breathe For Life,” ("Pust for Livet" in Norwegian) which is perfectly aligned with exploring modes of our inner reality.

Helge had been a guest on an earlier podcast episode where he introduced the listeners to The Concept and his experience as an artist seeking greater awareness of his essence, intuitive intelligence, emotional fire and spiritual depth. We were invited as a follow-up to Helge's conversation based on the very positive response to Helge’s first interview. We naturally picked up right where he left off.

The podcast host Marianne Magelssen was so gracious and sensitive, initiating many very deep questions to keep the conversation flowing as both Helge and I spoke about our experience and insights of a vertical nature that stem from the LCCOTO in relation to Living Time, the flowering of the heart, the Light Body, and connections to one's essence as a center of gravity. Respect and gratitude goes out to Marianne for giving us this wonderful opportunity to shed light on this perspective in such a warm, supportive and loving conversation. Her podcast contributes to making the world a better place for us to live our lives in harmony and unity.

Marianne Magelssen

Feel free to listen to the entire 56 minute podcast below in this Spotify audio player. Our entire conversation is in English.

Keep in mind that the first minute of the podcast's introduction is spoken in Norwegian.

NMH is the largest music academy in Norway, offering the highest level of music education for undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Andy and Helge leading a Forum demonstration of The Concept in the main lecture hall of NMH on March 27, 2025

The Norwegian Academy of Music (a/k/a NMH) is the teaching home of Helge Lien, who acted as the quintessential host for the entire week in Oslo. We really bonded as close friends during this experience and worked together co-presenting in effortless harmony and unity. We felt like a jamming duo who had been creating meaningful music together for a lifetime.

His Academy warmly welcomed both of us to share both the technology, history, cultural significance and wisdom of George Russell’s LCCOTO over the course of two days to both their faculty and students.

The first day was a 4 hour session with faculty members from different departments who wanted to know more about tonal gravity and how it relates to Western music theory. They were very engaged in our presentation which mixed both lecture and musical demonstrations.

We spent that afternoon and the next day with Helge’s own music students discussing The Concept and answering questions, as well as having a masterclass format presentation in the very large Forum lecture hall. The students had many questions about the 12 tone Lydian Chromatic Scale and its Western Order of Tonal Gravity versus the Pythagorean Prototype, tonal levels and tonal orders.

We spoke in depth about its application when helping to guide the process of creating music with artistic excellence in composition and improvisation. The students happily embraced the balance of both what The Concept tells us about music's own self-organized unity and its relationship to traditional western music theory. The majority of the participants were very open and receptive to the hear these refreshing and enlightening possibilities that flow from the powerful idea of the law of tonal gravity in music and life.

We especially received a very positive response when speaking in depth about the need to ask the most fundamental questions that lead to the one thing necessary that activates the evolution from musicianship to artistry:

Why do you play music?

Do you have a story to tell?

What are you hearing?

Is your music coming alive with fresh energy each and every day?

And we helped to clarify and dispel the myths perpetuated by all the false news, misguided, ill-informed and disparaging information (primarily click-bait) that permeates YouTube and circulates the internet on the deep subject of The Lydian Chromatic Concept in order to give Maestro Russell the dignity and respect his fifty years of work justifyably deserves.

Everyone was in agreement that they had gained a greater appreciation for Maestro Russell's excellence, integrity, genius and towering contribution to the world of music as both a composer and theoritician.

Special thanks goes out to Ivar Grydeland, leader of the jazz and improvised music department, for making the arrangements and creating the comprehensive schedule for our work together. I am eagerly looking forward to returning to this exemplary institution of learning to do much more along with Helge on behalf of George Russell and The Concept in the months and years ahead.

Musical Artist Extraordinaire Helge Lien : A National Treasure of Norway

Helge and Andy on stage at the Victoria, Nasjonal jazzscene Club in Oslo on March 26, 2025

Either you feel it or you don't.

Helge Lien feels it.

Either you've got "it" or you don't.

Helge's got "it".

Anyone who is fortunate enough to hear Helge perform live (or listen to his many stellar recordings) arrives at the unmistakable conclusion that this man is what a real, authentic, sincere, soulful musician sounds like. When he plays the piano he puts his handprint on your heart.

Due to his high level of integrity and excellence, he has transcended the level of being a musician by fully exemplifying the stature of being an artist. An evolved musical artist. Not just any evolved musical artist. A musical artist extraordinaire.

In the 40+ years since George Russell certified me to teach the LCCOTO, I have had the honor of working with some great musical artists, but none have connected to the root of the root of the Lydian Chromatic Concept as Helge Lien has. His inner vision clearly penetrates the wisdom within the wisdom of tonal gravity.

By the time Helge reached out to me in March 2023, he had already spent years reading the fourth and final 2001 edition of The Concept, and felt it so momentous that he began sharing its wisdom with his students at the Norwegian Academy of Music where he is an associate professor. At some point it became clear to him that he needed to delve more deeply into George's treatise and signed up to take weekly lessons with me. I'm happy to report that we've been working together ever since.

Under extremely rare circumstances, the bond between a mentor and student (mentee) can approach cherished ground, whereby the mentor - as the eternal student - can learn as much from the mentee as the mentee learns from the mentor. The relationship is reciprocal.

As our work together progressed, Helge kept going deeper, exclaiming "I now see that this idea is SO big!!!" The Concept awakened as a state of "being" in mind, heart and soul as he was uncovering the ownership and birthright of his Lydian Tonic - the innermost gravity. Then his work as a pianist and composer opened a door of ingoing to outgoing relationships while becoming fluent in both vertical and horizontal realities. Most noticeably, Helge's intellectual brilliance shifted gears of attunement in balance with his growing intuitive intelligence, his passionate emotional center and everything within the depth of all he holds meaningful to his story, his sound, his song.

Unlike any other student I've ever had, he chose to spend a tremendous amount of energy in addition to his busy touring and teaching schedule to make a week's worth of arrangements for me to present in-person throughout Oslo in order to work as a representative of George Russell's ideas. He called it a "homecoming" in reference to the historical relevance of when George was active and influential there from 1965-1969.

Additionally, as an example of his dedication, Helge is the only student I've ever worked with who posts blog articles on his official music website to share insights from his journey of discovery during our lessons. This particular article documents my week in Oslo.

And to my suprise, Helge is the only student who - when mastering the intricacies of The Concept's powerful "nine-tone order" - can confidently and freely improvise on the highest level of contrapuntal texture. When doing so, he brings Bach's genius to life in vertical time without imitating the Grand Master, but by tapping into a portal that opens the door to what Bach was expressing when JSB used the nine-tone order to weave together the five fundamental chord categories of major, minor, seventh, augmented and diminished. Every time Helge plays his nine-tone order improvisations the resonance speaks of something quite miraculous, bringing tears to my eyes.

When I arrived in Oslo in March 2025 to bring George Russell's epic Concept of Tonal Gravity to the beautiful people of Norway by conducting seminars, workshops, lecture/demonstrations, music making, as well as doing interviews and a podcast, both Helge and I joined forces as trusted co-presenters, discovering that we have an organic, effortless and spontaneous way of working together - as if we are a well-oiled machine, or a duo that has been playing together for decades whereby each of us knows what the other is thinking as one mind. What a joy it is to work alongside Helge while sharing the essence and technology of The Concept with so many eager and curious Norwegian participants.

Our combined energy reflects Unity as the silent pulse within the primal core of The Concept itself.

Therefore I feel it is meaningful to share the story of this wonderful ongoing relationship here in a News blog post as my humble tribute with deep respect and admiration to Helge as an expression of gratitude to him by saying: "Tusen Takk!!!"