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 |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Associated acts | Magnetic North Orchestra |
| Website | www |
Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the Magnetic North Orchestra. 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] |
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 is a Norwegian jazz drummer. He is married to actress, minister, and theater director Ellen Horn, and is the father of singer and actress Emilie Stoesen Christensen.
Ellen Radka Toneff was a Norwegian jazz singer, daughter of the Bulgarian folk singer, pilot and radio technician Toni Toneff, she was born in Oslo and grew up in Lambertseter and Kolbotn. She is still considered one of Norway's greatest jazz singers.
Solveig Slettahjell is a Norwegian jazz singer, known for her soulful, seductive voice.
Audun Kleive is a Norwegian Jazz musician and composer. He was raised in Skien, as the son of organist Kristoffer Kleive and brother of organist and composer Iver Kleive.
Sidsel Endresen is a Norwegian jazz vocalist, composer and actor. She was part of the Jon Eberson Group. Since 1987, Endresen has pursued a successful solo career, resulting in 13 records under her own name including several recorded for the ECM label.
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.
Tore Brunborg is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer who plays saxophone. He was born in Trondheim, but grew up in Voss where a jazz environment was flowering. Known from numerous appearances with international greats including Bugge Wesseltoft, Håvard Wiik, Audun Kleive, Anders Jormin, Diederik Wissels, Arild Andersen, Pat Metheny, Per Jørgensen, Geir Lysne, Misha Alperin, Bjørn Alterhaug, Jan Gunnar Hoff, Jarle Vespestad, Jon Christensen, Jon Balke, Nils Petter Molvær, Vigleik Storaas, Bo Stief, and Billy Cobham.
JøKleBa is a Norwegian Jazz band with a free improvising expression.
1300 Oslo was a Norwegian jazz band originally called Oslo 13 (1979–93), founded and operated the first two years by Bror Hagemann and continuated by Jon Balke. In 1994 the band got a joint leadership with Trygve Seim, Morten Halle and Torbjørn Sunde, and changed their name.
Erik Balke is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone), known as leader of the "Lille Frøen Saksofonkvartett" with Vidar Johansen, Arne Frang and Odd Riisnæs/Tore Brunborg/Olav Dale, as member of his younger brother Jon Balke's early orchestras, and for cooperations with Don Cherry, Ed Blackwell, Per Jørgensen, Audun Kleive, Nils Petter Molvær, Torbjørn Sunde, Tore Brunborg, Paolo Vinaccia, and Bugge Wesseltoft.
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.
Odin Records is a Norwegian jazz record company and label founded in 1981 by the Norwegian Jazz Federation, when there were not many independent record labels in Norway. Only major international record companies were to be found in Oslo, so Odin soon became the most important national label for contemporary Norwegian jazz.
Svein "Chrico" Christiansen was a Norwegian jazz musician (drums), known from a number of recordings, and central on the Oslo Jazz scene.
Carl Morten Iversen is a Norwegian jazz musician, and the son of jazz violinist Arild Iversen (1920–65). He is known from numerous recordings and has long been central to the Oslo Jazz scene.
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 1994 in Norwegian music.
The following is a list of notable events and releases of the year 1982 in Norwegian music.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Jon Balke . |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Terje Bjørklund, Knut Kristiansen and Espen Rud | Recipient of the Buddyprisen 1984 | Succeeded by Terje Rypdal |
| Preceded by The Brazz Brothers | Recipient of the Jazz Gammleng-prisen 2008 | Succeeded by Finn Sletten |
