Asmund Bjørken (19 August 1933 – 29 January 2018) was a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe * Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including ...

musician who played the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

in the genres of

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

. He was

self-taught Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individua ...

Career

Bjørken was part of ''Harry Waagens Orchestra'', a central band on the

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Jazz scene in 1949–53. He later had his own orchestras in

Steinkjer Steinkjer is a municipality in Trøndelag Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Innherad Districts of Norway, region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Steinkjer (town), town of Steinkjer which is located on th ...

(1956–57) and

(1957–). In the lineups was among others Karl Holst (clarinet and saxophone, 1957–), Kjell Johansen (drums, 1957–) and

Bjørn Alterhaug Bjørn Alterhaug (born 3 June 1945) is a Norwegian jazz bassist, arranger, composer and professor of music. Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) Career Alterhaug was born in Mo i Rana, Norway. He is one of the grand masters among European bassp ...

(bass, 1966–). I. 1990 the orchestra consisted of Oddmund Finnseth, Ove Bjørken (guitar), Per Olaf Green and Rolf Skogstad. Av utenlandske samarbeid kan nevnes

Bengt Hallberg Bengt Hallberg (13 September 1932 – 2 July 2013) was a Swedish jazz pianist, composer and arranger.John Fordha"Bengt Hallberg obituary" theguardian.com, 7 August 2013 Born in Gothenburg, he studied classical piano from an early age, and wro ...

Benny Bailey Ernest Harold "Benny" Bailey (August 13, 1925 – April 14, 2005) was an American jazz trumpeter. Biography A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Bailey briefly studied flute and piano before turning to trumpet. He attended the Cleveland Conserva ...

Mads Vinding Mads Vinding (born 7 December 1948, Copenhagen, Denmark) is a Danish jazz double-bassist. Music career Vinding began his professional career when he was 16 as the house bassist for Jazzhus Montmartre, a jazz club in Copenhagen. He has played o ...

. In the 1980s he played in

Egil Kapstad Egil Kapstad (6 August 1940 – 13 July 2017) was a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer and arranger. He wrote the music for more than 50 theatre productions, and composed for film and television drama. Kapstad composed classical works for orchestra ...

Rowland Greenberg Rowland Charles Wentworth Greenberg (28 August 1920 in Oslo – 2 April 1994) was a Norwegian jazz musician (trumpet), seen by many as one of the foremost names in Norwegian jazz in the 1940s and 1950s. Career With a style inspired by the Engl ...

Quartet, and since 1990 he has led own ''Asmund Bjørken Swing Sextet'', which inter alia Ove Bjørken, Bjørn Alterhaug and Bjørn Krokfoss are included, as well as

Erling Aksdal Erling Aksdal Jr. (born 18 February 1953 in Molde, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, known from playing with the likes of Warne Marsh, Chet Baker, Herb Pomeroy, Bob Mover, Mick Goodrick, Ralph Moore, Lee Konitz, John Pål Inderb ...

(piano). He released the autobiography ''Spellemann, på gammel rutine og støgg mistanke'' in 2003, and a portrait of him vas put up at the Norwegian television channel

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

in 2003, called ''Asmund i Himmelriket'', by

Andreas Lunnan Andreas Lunnan (16 April 1940 – 21 February 2012) was a Norwegian television presenter. He was born in Åsen, but mostly resided in Skogn. He finished his secondary education in 1959, and graduated from teachers' college in 1961. He started his ...

Honors

*1972:

Buddyprisen Buddyprisen (established 1956 in Oslo, Norway) is an award, given annually by the Norwegian Jazz Forum to a Norwegian jazz musician that has "been an excellent performer and significantly involved in Norwegian jazz by other means". The award was a ...

*1998: Nord-Trøndelag fylkes kulturpris *2002: Vågåfatet *2003: Verdal kommunes kulturpris *2004: Trondheim Jazz Festival honorary Award

Discography

Solo albums

*1976: ''Accordeon to my heart'' *1990: ''Gammeldansens Perler'', within Asmund Bjørkens Orchestra'' (Sonor Records) *1992: ''Pot's on'', within Asmund Bjørkens Sextet *1997: ''Jazz Accordion – My way'', (Sonor Records)

Collaborative works

*1979: Frösöminner, (ARC) *1981: ''Old news'', within Bjørn Krokfoss Oktet *1982: ''All the things you are'', with

Arvid Genius Arvid, Arved, Arnvid or Arvydas is a male given name, most common in Scandinavia but also in Iran and Lithuania. In Scandinavia it is derived from Old Norse and means "forest of eagles" or 'eagle wood'. Arvid is a royal male name that is compose ...

References

External links

Asmund Bjørken Biography
on JazzBasen.no {{DEFAULTSORT:Bjorken, Asmund 1933 births 2018 deaths Norwegian writers Norwegian jazz saxophonists Norwegian jazz accordionists Norwegian jazz composers Musicians from Verdal 20th-century saxophonists