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Espen Berg
Awards
JazZtipendiatet 2016, Norway's largest music scholarship NTNU Ambassador 2016 Best soloist, Hoeilaart Int'l Jazz Contest 2007
Tags
Espen Berg: Water Fabric
by Chris May
The Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg has already carved out a formidable reputation with his trio. Earlier in 2023 he began a parallel strand with The Trondheim Concert (NXN), the recording of a wholly in-the-moment improvised solo concert, in the Keith Jarrett tradition, which he gave in 2019. Berg has since released two more albums in the same vein: The Nidaros Concert and The Hamar Concert (both NXN, 2023). Berg is also heard to advantage in ...
read moreAnders Lønne Grønseth & Multiverse: Inner View
by Chris May
Since George Russell published his influential Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization in 1953, other jazz musicians have attempted to reforge the theoretical construct of their music--with varying degrees of success and including some egregiously posturing examples of b.s. which bring to mind Hans Christian Andersen's salutary story The Emperor's New Clothes. One twenty-first century venture which authentically hits the mark is Israeli-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur's Middle Path, his deft recalibration of microtonal Indian ...
read moreEspen Berg: The Trondheim Concert
by Chris May
The idea of free improvisation means different things to different people. For some it suggests the lineage that began with the so-called energy players" of the late 1960s, musically untutored berserkers whose enthusiasm for Albert Ayler, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders inspired them to pick up a horn and play whatever notes fell at random under their fingers, typically at maximum volume. A possibly apocryphal story concerns one such energy player and New York City's Jazzmobile outreach ...
read moreEspen Berg Trio: Free To Play
by Chris May
If you ask a jazz fan to name the greatest piano-trio albums ever made, the probability is that their top twenty choices will include most, if not all, of the following: Erroll Garner's Concert By The Sea (Columbia, 1955), Ahmad Jamal's But Not For Me (Argo, 1958), Bill Evans's Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961), Keith Jarrett's Standards Volume 2 (ECM, 1983) and Brad Mehldau's The Art Of The Trio Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996), or in the cases ...
read moreKeith Jarrett & Vince Guaraldi
by Joe Dimino
During the penultimate episode of Neon Jazz during 2020, we continue to honor the voices of modern jazz. We start things off with a talented musician from Norway in Espen Berg. We also hear from Doug Carn of the 2020 Jazz is Dead series. We profile the busy and talented Kansas City saxophonist Rich Wheeler and wrap up the 680th Episode with Vince Guaraldi as the musical voice of the holiday season. Playlist Espen Berg Trio Meanwhile in ...
read moreEspen Berg Trio: Bølge
by Gareth Thompson
The highest wave ever measured by a fixed installation hit a Norwegian gas transporter in the North Sea. The wave was marked at 25.6 metres high. Award-winning pianist Espen Berg would probably approve such statistics, having named his trio's second album Bølge--the Norwegian name for wave. Berg is also keen to point out the many levels that 'wave' can be perceived from, including the mathematical. None of which should imply that Bølge needs logical analysis. But it is ...
read moreEspen Berg: Acres of Blue
by Eyal Hareuveni
Acres of Blue is the second volume of solo piano albums by Norwegian pianist Espen Berg, an organic extension of the most beautiful, Noctilucent (Atterklang, 2012). This time Berg chose to present a mixture of original compositions, improvised pieces, and arrangements of pieces that reference the breadth of his musical vocabulary and his formative influences--romantic compositions of Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Nordic pianists-composers as Esbjörn Svensson, Helge Lien and obviously, Keith Jarrett. All the compositions ...
read moreEspen Berg: The Trondheim Concert - A Fully Improvised Piano Concert And Live Recording
Source:
Vivo Musique Internationale
Five years after releasing his second solo album, Acres of Blue, Espen Berg decided to present a fully improvised piano concert in a live recording. This one-taker is a culmination of years of development, reflection and research. The music, created in the moment, reflects his emotions in a profound way, and every time he plays, it’s different. Every second of music is unique, and it feels like an endless resource, both musically and spiritually. The Trondheim Concert was recorded at ...
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New Album by Norwegian Jazz Trio Listen
Source:
Michael Ricci
The Norwegian trio Listen has won several international awards and toured in great parts of Europe, as well as Syria and Cuba. Their debut album received great reviews and a lot of media attention when released in 2007. The Norwegian National Broadcast described Listen as a rarely interactional ensemble--regardless of genre", and the renowned reviewer Roald Helgheim called the record a feast". II is Listen's second album, and their first pure trio album without guest musicians. It consists of original ...
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Free to Play was listed as one of the best recordings of 2019 by Downbeat (US), earning 4/5 stars
"EBT are rapidly becoming an important new voice in a crowded field of post-E.S.T. trios" - Jazz Journal (UK) on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to play (2019)
"But we all know what simplicity hides: A lot of rigor and precision in the detail that allow him to alternate the fluid and the collision with a certain mastery. And that's what gives this recording its particular brilliance. Espen Berg does not want to choose and manages to merge the opposites in order to obtain that original flair that is its charm. Well played." - Culture Jazz (FR) on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to Play (2019)
Primary Instrument
Piano
Location
Trondheim
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Associate professor at University of Science and Technology in Trondheim since 2006.