Paal Nilssen-Love (born 24 December 1974) is a Norwegian drummer and composer in the

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 ...

free jazz Free jazz is an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventions, such as regular tempos, tones, and chord changes. Musicians during ...

and

free improvisation Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician(s) involved. The term can refer to both a technique (employed by any musician in any genre) and as a recognizable genre in its ...

genres. (in Norwegian)

Early life

Nilssen-Love was born in Molde, Norway. His parents ran a jazz club in

Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...

, and he learned to play drums on the kit owned by his father. As a teenager, he played with free-jazz reedsman

Frode Gjerstad Frode Gjerstad (born 24 March 1948) is a Norwegian jazz musician with alto saxophone as principal instrument, but he also plays other saxophones, clarinet, and flute. He has collaborated with Paal Nilssen-Love, Borah Bergman, Peter Brötzmann, ...

, which was the start of a long musical relationship. He did musical studies at ''Sund folkehøgskole'' 1993-94. In 1994, during studies on the Jazz program at the Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1994–96), he formed the band Element which musically became a platform for several other groups with bassist

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (born 23 September 1971 in Oppdal, Norway) is a Norwegian bassist active in the jazz and free jazz genres. (in Norwegian) Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian) Career Flaten played electric bass in local funk trio ' ...

and pianist

Håvard Wiik Håvard Skarpnes Wiik (born 10 March 1975) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, known from a number of recordings with bands like Atomic, and performances with musicians like Petter Wettre, Ola Kvernberg and Stian Carstensen. Career Wi ...

and led to collaborations with

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the greatest modern jazz saxophonists. Career Ballamy was born in Guildford, Surrey, and educated at George Abbot School, Guildford, from 19 ...

and Chris Potter. Nilssen-Love also did a little composing in the mid-1990s.

Later life and career

Relocating to Oslo in 1996, Nilssen-Love took part in the forming of bands such as ''

Håkon Kornstad Håkon Games Kornstad (born 5 April 1977 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, flute and live looping) and classically trained singer (tenor), known from bands such as Wibutee and Kornstad Trio, and co ...

Trio'', ''The Quintet'' and ''Frode Gjerstad Trio'', as well as self-initiated projects. In 1999, Nilssen-Love played his first solo concert. Continuing, "by the early 2000s, Nilssen-Love had launched an international career, playing alongside Swedish saxophonist

Mats Gustafsson Mats Olof Gustafsson (born 29 October 1964) is a Swedish free jazz saxophone player. Career Gustafsson came to the attention of lovers of improvised music as part of a duo with Christian Munthe (started in 1986), as member of Gunter Chri ...

and American reed player

Ken Vandermark Ken Vandermark (born September 22, 1964) is an American composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist. A fixture on the Chicago-area music scene since the 1990s, Vandermark has earned wide critical praise for his playing and his multilayered compos ...

, among others." He has worked with his trio Vandermark and

Ab Baars Ab Baars (born November 21, 1955 in Axel, Netherlands) is a Dutch saxophonist and clarinetist who has had an active performance career since the 1970s. He has recorded several albums for the Geestgronden Records, Atavistic Records, and WIG record ...

, the bands Large Unit (a big band, with about 14 members, which he has led and composed for since 2013), School Days, The Thing, Scorch Trio, Territory Band, FME, and various duo projects such as with reedmen

Peter Brötzmann Peter Brötzmann (born 6 March 1941) is a German saxophonist and clarinetist. Biography Early life Brötzmann was born in Remscheid, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. He studied painting in Wuppertal and was involved with the Fluxus movement ...

and Vandermark guitarist Terrie Hessels ( The Ex), saxophonist John Butcher, organist Nils Henrik Asheim, and noise experimentalist Lasse Marhaug. In 2014, Nilssen-Love decided to leave the band Atomic to concentrate on Large Unit and projects involving more improvising.Margasak, Peter (July 2015) "Atomic – Lucidity". ''Down Beat''. p. 52.

Awards

*2002:

Kongsberg Jazz Award Kongsberg Jazz Festival or Kongsberg Jazzfestival is an international jazz festival that has been held annually in Kongsberg, Norway, since 1964. Artists Several worldwide great artists have visited Kongsberg during this festival; internation ...

, within Håkon Kornstad Trio *2006: Buddyprisen

Discography

Solo drum recordings

*2001: ''Sticks & Stones'' (Sofa) *2005: ''27 Years Later'' (Utech) *2010: ''Miró'' (PNL) *2012: ''Chiapaneca'' (Bocian) *2015: ''News from the Junk Yard'' (PNL)

References

External links

*
Kornstad Trio
- official website of the trio.
Frode Gjerstad TrioMP3 Interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nilssen-Love, Paal 1974 births Free jazz drummers Living people Musicians from Molde Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni Norwegian jazz composers 20th-century Norwegian drummers 21st-century Norwegian drummers Norwegian jazz drummers Male drummers Free jazz percussionists Rune Grammofon artists Male jazz composers 20th-century Norwegian male musicians 21st-century Norwegian male musicians Atomic (band) members The Thing (jazz band) members Clean Feed Records artists Smalltown Supersound artists Utech Records artists NoBusiness Records artists