Norway has quietly been building its cache of fine jazz musicians ever since America’s indigenous music landed on its shores in the 1920’s. Bolstered in recent years by Norwegian government support, Nordic jazz has made a big push spreading internationally. With seven universities dedicated to jazz, there’s no doubt Norway will continue to be a force in keeping jazz alive. This year the 2010 Alaska Airlines/ Horizon Air Portland Jazz Festival presented by US Bank is thrilled to present a trio of ensemble premieres to North America as part of the festival showcase, “Is Jazz Dead (or has it moved to a new address)? New Music from Norway.”

Trygve Seim wowed audiences in 2007 with his ensemble, and this year he comes with Frode Haltli with whom he recently released an atmospheric jazz improvisation called “Yraz” on ECM Records. All About Jazz calls their latest album, “An intimate, deep and beautiful exploration.” Seim’s ECM debut “Different Rivers” won the annual prize of the German Record Critics (Jahrespreis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik 2001). Similarly, Haltli’s ECM debut “Looking on Darkness” won the French Prix Gus Viseur in 2004 as well as the Norwegian Spellemannprisen for Best Contemporary Music Album. For their concert on Saturday, February 27 (3:00 PM), they’ll present music from Yraz and other collaborations as a duo of saxophone and accordion.

Also on ECM, The Christian Wallumrod Ensemble represents the intersection of jazz, chamber and experimental music. Christian Wallumrod has worked as a musician and composer since 1992, and he is considered one of the most prominent musicians of the younger Norwegian generation. He made his ECM debut with the album “No Birch” (1996) to considerable critical acclaim, and has released four highly regarded recordings on the label since then. The ensemble performs Saturday, February 27 (9:30PM) and features Christian Wallumrød – piano, harmonium, toy piano, Eivind Lønning – trumpet, Gjermund Larsen – violin, hardanger fiddle, viola, Tanja Orning – cello, Giovanna Pessi – baroque harp, and Pål Hausken – drums, percussion, glockenspiel.

While relatively new on the scene as a group, In The Country garners critical acclaim with their electrifying blend of jazz, rock and country. Downbeat called their debut album “one of the finest and most arresting albums to come out of Europe”, and All About Jazz cites In The Country’s latest album “Whiteout” (2009) on their “best of 2009″ list. In The Country plays the festival Friday, February 26 (9:30PM) and features, piano player Morten Qvenild, bass player Roger Arntzen and drummer Pål Hausken.

Don’t miss these shows at the Grieg Lodge (Norse Hall), Portland’s Norwegian community center and concert hall – Norway has never been so close! Plus, after the shows on Friday and Saturday nights Darrel Grant hosts the jam sessions just steps away in the Norse Hall lounge. Buy individual tickets or general admission to all three shows for only $50 with the Nordic Tones package.

This entry was posted on Thursday, February 4th, 2010 at 3:10 pm and is filed under 2010, Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.