Thorgeir Stubø (12 November 1943 – 22 October 1986) was a Norwegian

jazz guitarist Jazz guitarists are guitarists who play jazz using an approach to chords, melodies, and improvised solo lines that is called jazz guitar playing. The guitar has fulfilled the roles of accompanist (rhythm guitar) and soloist in small and large ens ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

. He was the father of jazz guitarist

Håvard Stubø Håvard Aasan Stubø (born 26 March 1977 in Narvik, Northern Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (guitar) and composer, son and musical successor of Jazz guitarist Thorgeir Stubø (1943–1986) and Grete Karin Aasan Stubø (b. 1943), and brot ...

, jazz singer

Kjersti Stubø Kjersti Aasan Stubø (born 25 April 1970) is a Norwegian jazz musician vocalist, daughter and musical successor of Jazz guitarist Thorgeir Stubø (1943–1986), mother of elektronica musician Mathias Stubø (b. 1992), and sister of Jazz guitaris ...

and theater director

Eirik Stubø Eirik Aasan Stubø (born 16 June 1965 in Narvik, Norway) is a Norwegian stage producer and theatre director. He has been director of Rogaland Teater and Nationaltheatret in Norway, and Stockholms Stadsteater and the Royal Dramatic Theatre in ...

, and he was the grandfather of

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

musician

Mathias Stubø Mathias Stubø (born 6 April 1992 in Tønsberg, Norway) is a Norwegian musician and DJ in the genre electronica, also known as Proviant Audio. He is the son of jazz vocalist Kjersti Stubø, grandson of jazz guitarist Thorgeir Stubø and nephew ...

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

(in Norwegian) (in Norwegian)

NRK The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (), commonly known by its initialism NRK, is a Norwegian state-run, government-influenced radio and television public broadcasting company. The NRK broadcasts three national TV channels and thirteen nat ...

.no (in Norwegian)

(in Norwegian)

Early life

Stubø was born and raised in

Narvik () is the third-largest List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Nordland Counties of Norway, county, Norway, by population. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Narvik (town), town of Narvik. Some of the notable villag ...

, Norway and listened to music on radio from an early age. His attention was drawn to American jazz, especially to the music of

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

Tal Farlow Talmage Holt Farlow (June 7, 1921 – July 25, 1998) was an American jazz guitarist. He was nicknamed "Octopus" because of how his large, quick hands spread over the fretboard. Early life and education Talmage Holt Farlow was born in Greensb ...

Wes Montgomery John Leslie "Wes" Montgomery (March 6, 1923 – June 15, 1968) was an American jazz guitarist. Montgomery was known for his unusual technique of plucking the strings with the side of his thumb and for his extensive use of octaves, which gave him a ...

Jimmy Raney James Elbert Raney (August 20, 1927 – May 10, 1995) was an American jazz guitarist, born in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, known for his work from 1951 to 1952 and then from 1953 to 1954 with the Red Norvo trio (replacing Tal Farlow) a ...

and Jim Hall, all of which was important for his early musical development. Stubø started playing the guitar in Narvik, but moved to Oslo to get his education in the 1960s. He studied

philology Philology () is the study of language in Oral tradition, oral and writing, written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also de ...

at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

and got a masters with the German language as main focus. On the Oslo jazz scene, he was soon recognised for his expressive guitar style. He was often seen at the student home "Nord Norsken", performing jazz, and he played with up-coming musicians like

Jan Garbarek Jan Garbarek () (born 4 March 1947) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, who is also active in classical music and world music. Garbarek was born in Mysen, Østfold, southeastern Norway, the only child of a former Polish prisoner of war, Czesław Gar ...

, Knut Riisnæs,

Svein Christiansen Svein "Chrico" Christiansen (6 August 1941 – 25 November 2015) was a Norwegian jazz musician (drums), known from a number of recordings, and central on the Oslo Jazz scene. Career Christiansen started early to play drums in various ban ...

and

Arild Andersen Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene. Career Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...

. (in Norwegian) Returning to Narvik, Stubø started working at Frydenlund high school as a teacher of language and continued his participation in local music life. He also was a sportsman and a skier, and he hiked the northern Norway scenery as a source of inspiration.

Career

Even though raising a family and working as an ordinary teacher occupied much of his time, Stubø is regarded as the best Norwegian guitarist through all time. His first record was ''Notice'' (Odin Records, 1981), with Henning Gravrok (saxophones), Bjørn Alterhaug (bass), Terje Bjørklund (piano) and Ernst-Wiggo Sandbakk (drums), all musicians from northern Norway. It was a soft flowing album with references to

Chick Corea Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea (June 12, 1941 – February 9, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, composer, bandleader and occasional percussionist. His compositions "Spain (instrumental), Spain", "500 Miles High", "La Fiesta", "Armando's Rhumba" ...

's jazz rock style, and was rewarded

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

1981. His next record, ''Live at Jazz Alive'' (Odin Records, 1983/1985), was a live recording from the jazz club ''Jazz Alive'' in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, with

Bernt Rosengren Bernt Åke Rosengren (24 December 1937 – 15 May 2023) was a Swedish jazz tenor saxophonist. His recordings earned him five Gyllene Skivan awards in Sweden over more than forty years. Biography Rosengren first played professionally at age 19, ...

, Egil Kapstad, Terje Venaas and Egil Johansen, some of the best bop musicians in Scandinavia. These two records was released on the Norwegian Jazz Clubs own label, Odin Records. ''Flight'' (

Hot Club Records Hot Club Records is a jazz record label established 1982, by guitarist Jon Larsen in Oslo, Norway.Dregni, Michael (2008) ''Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing'', OUP USA, , p. 229 The label has released over 35 ...

1983, live recordings from 1983), with Krister Andersson (saxophones), Terje Venaas (bass), Lars Sjösten (piano), Egil Johansen (drums), Ivar Antonsen,

Jesper Lundgaard Jesper Lundgaard (born 12 June 1954) is a Danish jazz bassist, bandleader, composer and record producer. Since his debut in the mid-1970s, he has been among the most prominent bassists in Danish jazz and as a sideman he has appeared on more th ...

and

Alex Riel Alex Riel (13 September 1940 – 9 June 2024) was a Danish jazz and rock drummer.''Jeg skal sgu sidde ved trommerne'' Af Bine Madsen. Dagbladenes Bureau, 9 February 2010. Same interview in Flensborg Avis, 17 February 2010, Side 18''Alex Riel ...

(drums), is a mixed studio a live recording from

Tromsø Tromsø is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tromsø Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is the administrative centre of the municipality as well as the administrative centre of Troms county. The city is located on the is ...

with different line-ups on the two sets. The album showed the influence of guitarist

Pat Martino Pat Martino (born Patrick Carmen Azzara; August 25, 1944 – November 1, 2021) was an American jazz guitarist and composer. He has been cited as one of the greatest guitarists in jazz. Early life Martino was born Patrick Carmen Azzara in Philad ...

. By writing letters, Stubø got in contact with the well-known guitarist

Doug Raney Doug Raney (August 29, 1956 – May 1, 2016) was an American jazz guitarist. He was the son of jazz guitarist Jimmy Raney. Career Raney was born in New York City. He began to play the guitar when he was 14, beginning with rock and blues. He was ...

, son of the legendary Jazz guitarist

. This led to the album ''Everything We Love'' (Hot Club, 1983/1985), with

, Ole Jacob Hansen and Jesper Lundgaard Stubø released his two last records on the label Cadence Jazz Records. First came the LP ''Rhythm'a'ning'' (Cadence Jazz Records, 1986), live in Tromsø with Krister Andersson, Lars Sjösten, Terje Venaas and Egil Johansen (Cadence Jazz Records, 1986). This release included many tunes by

. ''The End of a Tune'' (Cadence Jazz Records, 1988), with

Art Farmer Arthur Stewart Farmer (August 21, 1928 – October 4, 1999) was an American jazz trumpeter and flugelhorn player. He also played flumpet, a trumpet–flugelhorn combination especially designed for him. He and his identical twin brother, doub ...

, Doug Raney, Ivar Antonsen, Jesper Lundgaard and Ole Jacob Hansen, marked the end of his career.

Honors

*Awarded the "

" 1981 in the class Jazz, for the record ''Notice'' *Awarded the Norwegian "

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 ...

" Jazz Prize of honor 1986 *The Thorgeir Stubø Memorial Fund was established in 1987, and annually awards the " Stubøprisen" for important contributors to the Northern Norwegian jazz.

Discography

*1981: ''

Notice Notice is the legal concept describing a requirement that a party be aware of legal process affecting their rights, obligations or duties. There are several types of notice: public notice (or legal notice), actual notice, constructive notice. ...

'' (

Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...

) *1984: '' Live at Jazz Alive'' (Odin), live in

*1985: '' Everything We Love'' ( Hot Club), with

*1985: ''

Flight Flight or flying is the motion (physics), motion of an Physical object, object through an atmosphere, or through the vacuum of Outer space, space, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift ass ...

'' (Hot Club), live recordings from 1983 *1986: '' Rhythm'a'ning'' (

Cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

), live in

*1988: '' The End of a Tune'' (Cadence)

References

External links

Biography at Jazzklubben.Narviknett.no
(in Norwegian)
Biography and video at Allkunne.no
(in Norwegian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Stubo, Thorgeir 20th-century Norwegian guitarists Norwegian jazz guitarists Spellemannprisen winners Musicians from Narvik 1943 births 1986 deaths Odin Records artists Cadence Jazz Records artists Hot Club Records artists 20th-century Norwegian jazz composers