Jon Balke | |
|---|---|
 Balke at Berchidda on Sardinia, 2006 (Photo by Gianfranco Rota) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jon Georg Balke |
| Born | 7 June 1955 Furnes, Norway |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instrument | Piano |
| Website | www |
Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the group Siwan. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke. [1] [2] [3]
Balke started playing classical piano but switched to blues at 12, though he performs within several genres. At the age of 18 he joined Arild Andersen's quartet. By the mid-1980s he worked on his own and would become one of Norway's leading jazz composers. [4] He was active in the groups of Radka Toneff and in the Afrofusion group E'olén before joining Oslo 13 and Masqualero in the early 1980s. From 1989 he focused on his own projects, such as JøKleBa (with Audun Kleive and Per Jørgensen) and the Magnetic North Orchestra for which he composed the commissioned work Il Cenoneat to Vossajazz 1992. [5]
Balke formed the percussion group Batagraf in 2002, and created the concept work Siwan with singer Amina Alaoui in 2007. He is also the creator of a series of multimedia concerts at Vossajazz festival, labeled Ekstremjazz. The concerts involve various practitioners of extreme sports, such as parachuting, paragliding, hanggliding, and BMX biking. [1] [4] In 2012 he was artist in residence at Moldejazz. [6] In 2016 he launched the solo piano concept Warp the use of live electronics accompanying the grand piano in live performances.
An asterisk (*) indicates year of release.
| Year recorded | Title | Label | Personnel/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Further | ECM | With Morten Halle (sax), Per Jørgensen (trpt), Tore Brunborg (sax) Anders Jormin (bass) Marilyn Mazur (perc) Audun Kleive (perc) |
| 1997 | Rotor | Curling Legs | With Morten Hannisdal (cello), Marek Konstantynowicz (viola), Henrik Hannisdal and Odd Hannisdal (violin) |
| 1998* | Saturation | Jazzland/EmArcy | With Nils-Olav Johansen (guitar, vocals), Fredrik Lundin (sax, flute), Sidsel Endresen (vocals) |
| 1999 | Solarized | EmArcy | Magnetic North Orchestra |
| 2002 | Kyanos | ECM | Magnetic North Orchestra |
| 2004 | Diverted Travels | ECM | Magnetic North Orchestra |
| 2006 | Book of Velocities | ECM | Solo piano |
| 2007–08 | Siwan | ECM | With Amina Alaoui (vocals), Jon Hassell (trumpet, electronics), Kheir-Eddine M'Kachiche (violin), Helge Andreas Norbakken (percussion), Pedram Khavar Zamini (zarb), Bjarte Eike, Per Buhre, Peter Spissky, Anna Ivanovna Sundin and Miloš Valent (violin), Rastko Roknic and Joel Sundin (viola) Tom Pitt (cello), Kate Hearne (cello, recorder), Mattias Frostensson (double bass), Andreas Arend (theorboe, archlute), Hans Knut Sveen (harpsichord, clavichord) |
| 2009 | Say and Play | ECM | With Helge Andreas Norbakken (sabar, gorong, djembe, talking drum, shakers, percussion), Emilie Stoesen Christensen (vocals), Erland Dahlen (drums), Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen (poetry reading) |
| 2012 | Magnetic Works | ECM | Magnetic North Orchestra |
| 2014 | Warp | ECM | Solo piano and keyboards with field recordings [8] |
| 2017 | Nahnou Houm | ECM | Second album with the Siwan concept [9] |
| 2020 | Discourses | ECM | Solo album that further develops the methodology introduced on the 'Warp' album [10] |
| 2022 | Hafla | ECM | Third album with Siwan featuring Mona Boutchebak, Derya Turkan and Pedram Khavarzamini. [11] |
With Jøkleba
With Batagraf
With Radka Toneff
With Masqualero
With Oslo 13
With others
Arild Andersen is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene.
Jon Ivar Christensen was a Norwegian jazz drummer. He was married to actress, minister, and theater director Ellen Horn, and was the father of singer and actress Emilie Stoesen Christensen.
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Per Jørgensen is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist with trumpet as his main instrument, also known for his vocal contributions, in collaboration with Dag Arnesen, Knut Kristiansen, Alex Riel, Jon Christensen, Jon Balke, Audun Kleive, Jan Gunnar Hoff, Marilyn Mazur, Nils Petter Molvær, Bugge Wesseltoft, and Terje Isungset.
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Magnetic North Orchestra established in Oslo, Norway (1992–2005) was a Norwegian jazz orchestra, created and led by Jon Balke. MNO was originally a jazz ensemble inspired by Oslo 13, put together with strings and percussion. As Olympic musical ambassador from 1993 to 1994, for the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Jon Balke created the work Magnetic North for a larger group, and under this name (MNO) he has toured in Europe, USA and Japan.
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Helge Andreas Norbakken is a Norwegian drummer known for his collaborations with Mari Boine, Jon Balke (MNO/Bathagraf/Siwan), Kari Bremnes, Maria Joao, Karl Seglem, Becaye Aw, Miki N'Doye, Jovan Pavlovic, and Anne Wylie. He is married to Dagrun Hjelleset Norbakken.
Vidar Johansen is a Norwegian jazz musician, music arranger and composer.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1998 in Norwegian music.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1982 in Norwegian music.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 2018 in Norwegian music.
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