Jan Erik Kongshaug, recording engineer on many productions made in Oslo at the Bendiksen, Talent, and Rainbow Studios has died, aged 75.  “Our first studio session together, and the beginning of a close collaboration lasting nearly fifty years, was Afric Pepperbird in September, 1970, with Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen.  We were all rather innocent beginners, then,” Manfred Eicher recalls, “but listening to the playback shared a growing awareness of participating in something special.”   Near the beginning of the ECM story, Jan Erik engineered the influential series of solo piano recordings that included Chick Corea’s Piano Improvisations. Vol, 1 & 2, Keith Jarrett’s Facing You, and Paul Bley’s Open, To Love and, working closely with Manfed Eicher, helped to realize the clarity and transparency of sound that would become a hallmark of the label’s recordings.