Starting in the late ’60s, Rypdal simultaneously expanded multiple musical horizons, exploring Jimi-esque psychedelia with Dream, studying classical composition with Finn Mortensen and Kryztof Penderecki, playing jazz with Jan Garbarek and Lester Bowie, and interning with pianist, composer, and developer of the Lydian-chromatic concept of tonal organization (on which the modal music of Miles, Coltrane, and Bill Evans was based) George Russell. Listen to Rypdal’s 1968 debut, Bleak House (on which he blends shades of Peter Green and Wes Montgomery with avant-noise), Jan Garbarek’s 1969 Esoteric Circle, 1970’s skronk-fusion trio collaboration Min Bul, and the George Russell Sextet’s Trip to Prillarguri from the same year for examples of how he melds his diverse influences.

With the release of 1971’s Terje Rypdal, the guitarist began a lifelong association with producer Manfred Eicher’s prestigious ECM jazz label, on which he has released nearly 20 titles as a leader and countless collaborations. The eponymous album successfully combined Rypdal’s rock, jazz, and neo-classical leanings—but guitar-wise, he was still a few years away from his signature sound: a majestic, echoed, voice-like tone with singing sustain, precisely articulated vibrato, and a bow-like attack via volume-pedal swells (often placed within Eicher’s legendary reverberant spaces).

The recordings that followed fall very roughly into three categories: Those that combine Rypdal’s various compositional elements on a single album, orchestral works, and his mid-’80s “power-trio” outings with the Chasers. Terje Rypdal: Selected Recordings, released in 2002, provides an excellent overview. Additionally, some of Rypdal’s best guitar playing occurs on albums by other artists, with violinist Michael Galasso’s 2005 High Lines being a recent standout.

Here, we list 11 titles that span Rypdal’s extensive body of work, including a couple of collaborations. Think of these as starting points for further exploration, as there are many other fine albums that simply couldn’t be covered in the allotted space.

Whenever I Seem to Be Far Away, 1974
Part one of this revolutionary album features driving drums and fuzz bass, swirling Mellotron, French horn, and mind-blowing Strat work, while side two is a dark, brooding neoclassical composition that juxtaposes electric guitar with oboe, clarinet, and chamber strings. This timeless recording remains one of Rypdal’s personal favorites.

Odyssey, 1975
The follow-up to Far Away was a double LP that continued to develop the same progressive rock/space jazz/modern classical fusion, while exploring each
element more thoroughly. Rypdal’s highly emotive playing on “Darkness Falls” is some of his best ever, combining long, sustained notes with subtle shifts in phrasing.

Barre Phillips, Three Day Moon, 1978
This amazing recording showcases Rypdal’s earliest guitar-synth work. Also accompanied by synthesist Dieter Fechtner and Indian percussionist Trilok Gurtu, double bass master Phillips leads this quartet into uncharted improvisational realms, inadvertently bridging Subotnick and Weather Report while helping to birth world-fusion, particularly on the raga-hoedown mash-up “S.C.&W.”

Rypdal/Vitous/DeJohnette, 1978
The first of two collaborations with bassist Miroslav Vitous and drummer extraordinaire Jack DeJohnette, and recorded only a few months after Three Day Moon, this largely improvised album continues Rypdal’s guitar-synth explorations, and includes some of his most evocative textural and melodic playing.

After the Rain, 1976
With the exception of his ex-wife Inger Lise’s voice, Rypdal produced every sound on this collection of impressionistic sound paintings, playing piano, string ensemble, soprano saxophone, flute, bells, and tubular bells in addition to electric and rare bits of acoustic guitar.

Waves, 1977
Sticking closer to the jazz end of the Rypdal continuum, particularly on the opening cut “Per Ulv,” Waves pares things down to a quartet, with Rypdal and trumpeter/ flugelhorn player Palle Mikkelborg doubling on synthesizers. Dig the fancy twang-bar ornamentation on “Stenskoven.”

Descendre, 1979
And then there were three. Rypdal, Mikkelborg, and ubiquitous drummer Jon Christensen create gorgeous and compelling soundscapes that occasionally presage new age, but always with enough edge to maintain interest.

Chaser, 1985
The simplest and therefore most successful of Rypdal’s power-trio albums, Chaser features stripped-down and somewhat bluesy rockers with lots of kick-ass
guitar, at times harkening back to his Vanguards days.

Double Concerto 5th Symphony, 2000
This double concerto for two electric guitars and symphony orchestra features metal guitarist Ronni Le Tekro and the Riga Festival Orchestra. Probably the most guitar-oriented of Rypdal’s orchestral works, the juxtaposition of intense and intensely noisy guitars against the far subtler strings, winds, brass, and percussion yields moments of great passion and beauty.

Vossabrygg, 2006
A major departure from Rypdal’s previous works, this album is centered on a commissioned tribute to electric-period Miles, though it also adds elements of electronica and a sort of hippie hop courtesy of son Marius Rypdal’s “electronics, samples, and turntables.” Interesting stuff.

Terje Rypdal and the Chasers, Blue, 1986
This digitally recorded example from Rypdal’s power trio period has some atmospheric sections, but is mostly fusion-esque. There’s some great guitar playing and the compositions have their moments, but the period keyboard patches, popping basses, and electronic drum sounds haven’t aged well.