The recording studio is where Bjørnstad defines his music, "For me the studio situation is very important, I know many of my colleagues - musicians - they have concerts first and then they can say, 'Okay we go into the studio and record it.' For me it starts in the studio, when the music is very fresh and new, rather than going on tour for many weeks to prepare and then go in the studio, because I believe you loose the first magical feelings of the music. I bring in new material and everything is very fresh, very new and extremely vulnerable, so for me the studio production is extremely important so I prepare a lot for it." 　　 　　 　　Throughout I, the elements of simplicity and purity in Bjørnstad's music and the way he and his musicians respond to them are often impressive in their momentary effect. With Puschnig's flutes and bass clarinet adding an ethereal, floating quality to his music, Devotions opens a fresh chapter in Bjørnstad's musical odyssey. Arild Andersen on bass and Alex Riel on drums shape the music from within, with Andersen's haunting bowed acoustic bass providing a hint of "ambient" shading on three titles. "There were so many surprises the way the music was created," reflects Bjørnstad. "With four people the energy of wanting to try out things and go further was so exciting."But ultimately Devotions success lies with the touch, the intensity and the transparency of Bjørnstad's piano. Somehow he manages to suggest a tension between the temporal art form of music making and art itself, an aspiration of timelessness that can be found throughout his best work. There is hard earned musical wisdom in this music as Bjørnstad condenses powerful emotions into small spaces. A Renaissance Man yes, where the joy of music surfaces in his literature and the writer's storytelling privilege surfaces in his music.