Released under the Old & New Masters umbrella, this is a must-buy CD. Its importance is manifold. Firstly, the, epic ‘Rolling Stone’ is reunited with the rest of the Odyssey recording. Too long (over 23 minutes) for the original release, ‘Rolling Stone’ is a sort of ‘Stairway To Heaven’ of jazz-rock: massive, legendary and a benchmark for how Europeans could take American sounds and mould something uniquely their own. Kicking off from Blix's eerie organ, through to Rypdal's killer riff set against a tectonic deep bass line, this is not music to play in the dark or on your own. It'll fettle with your soul, chaps. The Miles influence of course runs deep but the Lutheran-toned organ and Sunde's swooping glissandos take us even beyond Miles' imagination. It's a world of pain yet catharsis that the early Asaf Sirkis band with Mike Outram briefly explored. Odyssey, Rypdal's first proper recording as leader marks the arrival of a unique visionary as both instrumentalist and composer. It's superbly complemented by the live recording with the Radio Orchestra. This is a rambunctious performance, at times shambling and rambling but never short of energy and of course Rypdal's own, special searing voice. It was his first and last big band outing until Crime Scene, and stands in worthy comparison to that late masterpiece.

Jazzwise spoke to Terje Rypdal about the album

The Radio Orchestra recording may surprise a few people.

It was an even bigger surprise for me! I didn't even know it existed. Then these fans sent me a CD of the concert with the big band. I'd not heard it since we originally played it. I was very critical of my work then.

Why did you give up acoustic guitar soon after this?

That's what makes this recording as interesting as anything else, because it was not long after this that I stopped. I stopped because I just didn't enjoy it. I knew John McLaughlin a bit then and I just knew I would have to practise, practise, practise to get anywhere near what I wanted.

And ‘Rolling Stone’ is returned to its original context?

‘Rolling Stone’ was a bit of a hit in Germany, but it was left out first time round so we could make a single CD. So looking back it was a bit of a mistake to leave it off!

Odyssey is an iconic recording but you never meant to record with that band?

No, I originally wanted Pete Knudsen who played Mellotron and keys but he didn't want to tour. And originally I wanted this French horn player, the best there was, but he couldn't travel. But then Torbjørn put down some lovely colours. I don't know how he got to leave the band, but I know that period with him in the band was the best.

That was the past, but what of the future?

I have a trio like the Skywards trio, like an organ trio but not that classic sound – the organist sounds more like Keith Emerson. And of course we've been touring Crime Scene at the festivals and we've done that for four years now. But what I'm really waiting on is Melodic Warrior with the Hilliard Ensemble. In the meantime I've finished my seventh symphony. It's a continuation of Melodic Warrior with a choir in the third movement. So hopefully you'll be hearing that in a year or two.