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Jan Gunnar Hoff
Jan Gunnar Hoff has been active as a professional jazz pianist and keyboardist since 1979. As an artist and co-leader, he has released 23 albums including 4 solo piano recordings on the US Grammy- winning label 2L. Hoff established his own band, Jan Gunnar Hoff Group feat Audun Kleive, Bjørn Kjellemyr, Per Jørgensen and Knut Riisnæs (later Tore Brunborg) in 1993, and in 2014 he received the Buddy Award, Norwegian jazz's highest award. Hoff is a Steinway Artist and he has played concerts in major cities such as Tokyo, New York, London, Istanbul, LA. In 2005 Jan Gunnar Hoff received the Edvard (Grieg) Prize as a composer for his jazz mass Meditatus, a popular choral work. Jan Gunnar Hoff's compositions have been performed in his band projects with jazz greats such as Mike Stern, Pat Metheny, Maria João, Marilyn Mazur, Arve Henriksen, Anders Jormin and several of Hoff ́s larger works have been recorded. Hoff has collaborated with Alex Acuña and bassist Per Mathisen in a trio since 2008 and recorded two albums and a DVD in LA with this trio. In 2022 Acuña included the Hoff- composition "In Town" as an opening tune for his own album "Gifts", recorded in legendary Capitol studios, LA. Hoff´s latest album releases are "Gladiator" (Losen 2022) with Per Mathisen and Gary Novak, and his solo piano album "Home" (2L). Jan Gunnar Hoff works as a professor at the Arctic University of Norway in Tromsø and at UiA in Kristiansand.
Awards
Buddy award 2013. The highest distinction in Norwegian jazz
The Edvard Grieg Prize 2005 as a composer
US Grammy nomination for "Quiet winter night" (best surround sound 2013) as arranger and musical leader
Tags
Jan Gunnar Hoff: Fly North!
by Jakob Baekgaard
Norwegian pianist Jan Gunnar Hoff has had the honor of being the first artist on Losen Records to release an album recorded at producer and label owner Odd Gjelsnes' studio Berxeta, in sunny Spain. It was fitting that the name of that album was called Berxeta (Losen Records, 2012), and its sound was influenced by the surroundings: a warm and eclectic brand of fusion with influence from bouncing Latin rhythms. However, Gunnar Hoff has never shunned his ...
read moreJan Gunnar Hoff: Magma
by John Kelman
Keyboardist Jan Gunnar Hoff may not have the international visibility of fellow keyboardist Bugge Wesseltoft, but with a growing discography dating back to the mid-1990s and including, most recently, the powerfully fusion-esque Jungle City (Alessa, 2009), with fellow countryman/bassist Per Mathisen and ex-Weather Report percussionist/drummer Alex Acuna, that deserves to change. At the core of the eminently accessible yet equally deep Magma is a Norwegian posse that includes drummer Audun Kleive and bassist Bjørn Kjellemyr--two-thirds of guitarist Terje Rypdal's internationally ...
read moreDownbeat: "Hoffs album, with Stern´s formidable help, organically crosses over eras and transatlantic aesthetics, bridging a division in fusion".
Allaboutjazz Jan 2014: ”Together these four master musicians travel deep into a land of
beauty. Fly North is an enchanting musical journey in first class all the way through”
John Kelman, Allaboutjazz March 2013 (Barxeta feat. Alex Acuna):
“Hoff's Belarus blends a simple, haunting melody with an ascending and descending
three-chord pattern before opening up into a pedal tone, driven frenetically by Acuña
and Mathisen without losing its delicacy, leading to a piano solo redolent of keyboardist
Lyle Mays' best work with Pat Metheny”
Primary Instrument
Piano
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Professor at University of Kristiansand and Tromsoe, Norway. Experience from all levels since 1975. Masterclasses, workshops, teaching.