Henning Gravrok (born 19 March 1948 in

Tovik Tovik is a village in Tjeldsund Municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The village is located on the mainland at the entrance of the two fjords; Astafjorden and Vågsfjorden, and at a distance of about from Harstad/Narvik Airport, Ev ...

Northern Norway Northern Norway ( nb, Nord-Norge, , nn, Nord-Noreg; se, Davvi-Norga) is a geographical Regions of Norway, region of Norway, consisting of the two northernmost counties Nordland and Troms og Finnmark, in total about 35% of the Norwegian mainlan ...

) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone) and music teacher, raised in

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

and educated as teacher. Since 1975 he has been central to the

Tromsø Tromsø (, , ; se, Romsa ; fkv, Tromssa; sv, Tromsö) is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Tromsø (city), city of Tromsø. Tromsø lies ...

and

Bodø Bodø (; smj, Bådåddjo, sv, Bodö) is a municipality in Nordland county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Salten. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Bodø (which is also the capital of Nordland count ...

jazz scenes.

Career

In Tromsø, he played in the bands "Hei og Hå" (1975–79) and "Heracleum" (1976–78), "Inge Kolsvik Quartet" (1979–80), "Fusion Band" (1980–81), "Kjell Svendsen Quintet" (1981–83), "Øystein Norvoll Quintet" and "Synk" (1983–84). In recent years he has taken part in the Northern Norwegian band "Bossa Nordpå", and participated in Marit Sandvik Band. His debut recording was as a member of Thorgeir Stubø Quintet (1981). In

he led "Bodø Big Band" for a period and the "Ad Lib Jazzklubb", Gravrok has written ''Minner om i morgen'' (1991) which was awarded "Stubøprisen" (1991). With his own Henning Gravrok Band he released ''Hyss'' (1996) and ''Ord'' (1999), with lyrics by Rolf Jacobsen. His latest release was ''Sense'' (2006), in cooperation with Eivind Valnes (piano), Rune Nergård (bass), Børge Petersen-Øverleir (guitar) and Andreas Håkestad (drums). As a composer he has contributed work to "Festspillene i Nord-Norge" (1980, 1989) and the 175th Anniversary to

(1991), and composed music to the novel series "Peder Seier" by Ole Rølvåg, set up on

Nordland Teater Nordland Teater is a Norwegian theatre based in Mo i Rana. It was established in 1977 by Norwegian Parliament as the regional theatre for Nordland. Birgitte Strid has been theatre director since 2013. Theatre directors *1979–1986 Collective ...

(2006). He is also Associate Professor at the Conservatory of Music at the

University of Tromsø The University of Tromsø – The Arctic University of Norway (Norwegian: ''Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet''; Northern Sami: ''Romssa universitehta – Norgga árktalaš universitehta'') is a state university in Norway an ...

Honors

Stubøprisen Stubøprisen (an Award initiated in 1989, in memory of the late guitar virtuoso and Northern Norway Enthusiast Thorgeir Stubø) is the highest honor given to a Northern Norwegian jazz musician. The award is given every second year to a person who m ...

" 1991 *"

Nordlysprisen (the Northern Lights Prize, established in 1989) is an annual award presented by the newspaper Nordlys during the opening concert at Nordlysfestivalen in Tromsø, Norway. Nordlysprisen is awarded to a performing musician or composer, that through ...

" 1998 *"Bodø bys kulturpris" 2003.

Discography

Solo albums

*1996: ''Hyss'' (

Euridice Eurydice (; Ancient Greek: Εὐρυδίκη 'wide justice') was a character in Greek mythology and the Auloniad wife of Orpheus, who tried to bring her back from the dead with his enchanting music. Etymology Several meanings for the name ...

) *1999: ''Ord'' med tekster av Rolf Jacobsen (Tylden) *2006: ''Sense'' (Turn Left Productions) *2010: ''Q'' ()

Collaborative works

;Within Thorgeir Stubø Band *1981: ''Notice'' (

Odin Records Odin Records is a Norwegians, 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 O ...

) ;With

Halvdan Sivertsen Halvdan Sivertsen (born 5 January 1950) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Tromsø, but raised and lives in Bodø. He has won Spellemannprisen awards five times, twice with his group Gitarkameratene, and received the ...

*1984: ''Labbetussviser'' ( Igloo Records) *1985: ''Amerika'' (Plateselskapet A/S) *1990: ''Førr Ei Dame'' (Plateselskapet A/S) *1991: ''Hilsen Halvdan'' (Plateselskapet A/S) *1996: ''Ny & Naken'' (Norske Gram) ;Within Torgils *1997: ''Tellus. The Blue Album'' (White Mountain Records) *2001: ''Lysbroen'' (White Mountain Records) *2004: ''Lånte Fjær'' (White Mountain Records) ;With other projects *1998: ''Something For Me'' (Micro Booking), within Ripcoy *2002: ''Even Then (Mother Song)'' (Taurus Records), within Marit Sandvik Band *2005: ''Med Solidarisk Hilsen'' (Frank A. Jenssen Records), with Kjell A. Andreassen and

Frank A. Jenssen Frank Adolf Jenssen (21 January 1952 – 9 June 2017) was a Norwegian journalist, photographer, novelist and musician. He was born in Kjøpsvik. He made his literary début in 1981 with the novel ''Saltbingen'', for which he was awarded the Tarj ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gravrok, Henning Avant-garde jazz musicians Norwegian jazz saxophonists Norwegian jazz composers Musicians from Harstad 1948 births Living people 21st-century saxophonists