Home » Jazz Musicians » Jacob Young

Jacob Young

Born in Lillehammer in 1970, Young was introduced to jazz by his American father. At the age of 12 he took up the guitar and was, initially, self-taught on the instrument. After studying music at the University of Oslo, he received a scholarship to the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in Manhattan. His years there were devoted to learning the standard jazz repertoire as a starting point for a broader understanding of improvised harmonic music. Young’s principal teacher was the great guitarist Jim Hall, Jacob’s warm, glowing, rounded tone acknowledges the influence, with whom he studied both privately and in ensemble settings. He also took lessons with John Abercrombie, who later praised his “great playing in and out of the tradition”, and studied jazz composition with Richie Beirach, Bob Belden and Ken Werner. After attaining his degree in 1993, Young freelanced around New York for two years playing with, amongst others, Rashied Ali, Marc Copeland, Arnie Lawrence, Junior Mance and Larry Goldings.

His recording debut as a leader came in 1994 with this stellar group of talented young musicians; Nils Petter Molvær, Larry Goldings, Bendik Hofseth, Terje Gewelt and Per Oddvar Johansen. He starter to play festivals and small tours in Norway.

After returning from New York City to live in Oslo, Norway in 1996 he formed a quintet with Trygve Seim, Vigleik Storaas, Mats Eilertsen and Per Oddvar Johansen and recorded his second album “Pieces of Time” for the Curling Legs label.

Around this time legendary Norwegian jazz singer Karin Krog contacted Jacob after hearing him play on the radio. The two started a collaboration together, which includes the John Surman produced album “Where Flamingos Fly” from 2001 and regular touring all over the world for several years as a duo. In 2002 he was booked by the Kongsberg Jazzfestival with a quintet to do a concert with original material, this was the start of the Jacob Young Group, his main focus to this day.

Jacob has played guitar as a sideman on and off with artists such as Bendik Hofseth, Jan Erik Vold, Knut Riisnæs, Sidiki Camara, Bugge Wesseltoft, Karin Krog, Trygve Seim, The Source, Manu Katche, Allessandro Galati and the jazz/rock trio Interstatic co-led with Roy Powell and Jarle Vespestad.

In 2017 he started the local, modern jazz music label , Oslo Session Recordings, in collaboration with old friends. The label focuses on releases in the 180 grams Vinyl format - in limited editions - as a free venue for Jacob's sideman projects outside the ECM basis. The first release "The Maze" featured an all-star group consisting of a mix of new and old collaborators. Mike Mainieri, the legendary founder of Steps Ahead on vibes, Paolo Vinaccia on drums, Mats Eilertsen on bass and Bendik Hofseth on saxophone.

Read more

Tags

17
Album Review

Samo Salamon & Friends: Almost Alone Vol 1

Read "Almost Alone Vol 1" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


To keep the train on the track during the Covid lockdowns, artists must think outside the box. Such is the case with this first volume of duets performed by renowned Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon and European guitarists via the Internet by using web-based meeting programs and file-sharing processes. And besides performing on acoustic and electric guitars, Salamon incorporates a Moog synth on several tracks, largely used for textural backdrops. He also uses the body of his acoustic as a percussion ...

6
Multiple Reviews

Two Poetic Duos

Read "Two Poetic Duos" reviewed by Geno Thackara


Siril Malmedal Hauge and Jacob Young Chasing Sunsets Oslo Session Recordings 2020 Siril Malmedal Hauge and Jacob Young are no strangers to finding beauty in simplicity. They made a sleeper highlight of 2018 when they first teamed up for Last Things (Oslo Session Recordings), and their second outing offers more of the same in subtly different ways. Again the format is simple: merely guitar and voices with only a couple small additions--multiple layers of Hauge's ...

1
Album Review

Samo Salamon: Almost Alone Vol 1

Read "Almost Alone Vol 1" reviewed by Hrayr Attarian


Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon is as prolific as he is innovative. His restless explorations have resulted in a large, versatile discography that ranges from the orchestral to the free flowing with a variety of ensembles. His 2020 release Almost Alone Vol. 1 is a set of eleven duets each with a different international guitarist. It is the first in a planned three-record series. Every track features a different set of motifs yet the eloquent lyricism of the dialogues ...

1
Album Review

Oyvind Braekke: Wilderness

Read "Wilderness" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Il trombonista Øyvind Brække è uno dei massimi strumentisti norvegesi ed è conosciuto per le incisioni Ecm col quartetto cooperativo The Source, la presenza nella Trondheim Jazzorkester e varie collaborazioni internazionali con Chick Corea, Arild Andersen e col sassofonista scozzese Tommy Smith. A cinquant'anni d'età registra il suo primo disco da leader in un sestetto strumentalmente anomalo comprendente trombone, viola e sax tenore più una ritmica con chitarra come strumento armonico. Anche i partner sono 40/50enni appartenenti al ...

1
Album Review

Jacob Young/David Rothenberg/Sidiki Camara: They Say Humans Exist

Read "They Say Humans Exist" reviewed by Geno Thackara


"Is it enough to watch a flower grow?" Jacob Young muses over a slow-drifting cloud of clarinet and light percussion. “Is it enough to just be, to mind our own business?" If that sounds too much like coffeehouse open-mic poetry, the natural spirit behind it is genuine enough, and the vague spoken words only pop up briefly at the bookends of this short-and-sweet free-improv outing. This trio is thinking of big things--the title represents what aliens might say upon first ...

21
Interview

Jacob Young: On ECM, founding a label and finding the "drama" in the music

Read "Jacob Young: On ECM, founding a label and finding the "drama" in the music" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


There's a lot to be said about musical excellence in versatility when it comes to guitarist Jacob Young. The Norwegian fret-acrobat came to international prominence in the early 2000s, when ECM's Manfred Eicher detected his remarkable chops and subsequently recorded and released Young's debut Evening Falls (2004) for the prestigious German label. Two more sessions followed with 2006's Sideways and Forever Young in 2014—all of which met with great critical acclaim. But even a couple of years before, upon returning ...

18
Album Review

Øyvind Braekke: Wilderness

Read "Wilderness" reviewed by Friedrich Kunzmann


Best known for his work with fellow countrymen Trygve Seim, Per Oddvar Johansen and Mats Eilertsen on ECM's The Source (ECM 2006), trombonist Øyvind Braekke belongs among Norway's hidden treasures as far as arrangers and composers go. On Wilderness he displays delicate oversight at arranging six voices so that each instrument conveys a unique purpose. From intimate dialogues to orchestral proportions, the sextet covers a large spectrum sonically as well as compositionally—delivering a diversified yet conceptually determined set of exciting ...

Read more articles
1

Recording

Interstatic's Arise With Roy Powell, Jacob Young, Jarle Vespestad, To Be Released On Rarenoise In August

Interstatic's Arise With Roy Powell, Jacob Young, Jarle Vespestad, To Be Released On Rarenoise In August

Source: Antje Hübner

Interstatic Takes The Gloves Off On Third Recording For RareNoise. Arise Represents The Organ Trio's Most Intense Offering To Date. With each successive outing — first 2011ʼs Anthem followed by their raucous RareNoiseRecords debut, 2013ʼs InterStatic — the potent Norway-based trio of expatriate Brit organist Roy Powell, Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young and Norwegian drummer Jarle Vespestad has upped the ante on intensity and audaciousness while arriving at a nexus where rock organically meets jazz. Now the powerhouse unit has reached ...

157

Recording

Jacob Young/Roy Powell/Jarle Vespestad Release CD Anthem

Jacob Young/Roy Powell/Jarle Vespestad Release CD Anthem

Source: Michael Ricci

Organ jazz for today. Brooding, melancholic, lyrical, with intense ensemble playing. This collectively lead trio was born a little over a year ago as a project bringing together three of Norway's leading jazz musicians on Hammond B3 organ, drums and guitar. Jarle Vespestad and Jacob Young belong to the new generation of Norwegian musicians on ECM records. Roy Powell (UK) lives in Oslo with a background in British cutting-edge jazz having played with the Creative Jazz Orchestra and leading American ...

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Eventually

ECM Records
2023

buy

Wilderness

Oslo Session Recordings
2020

buy

They Say Humans Exist

Oslo Session Recordings
2020

buy

Almost Alone Vol 1

Samo Records
2020

buy

Chasing Sunsets

Oslo Session Recordings
2020

buy

Last Things

Oslo Session Recordings
2018

buy

Moon Over Meno

From: Eventually
By Jacob Young

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.