The Brazz Brothers, alias Brazz Bros (established 1981 in
Langevåg
Langevåg or Langevågen is the administrative center of Sula Municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. The village is situated at the end of the road on the north side of the island of Sula, about northwest of the village of Mauseidvà ...
jazz band
A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ...
. They are articularly known for their
improvisations
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
, and for the cooperation with
Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Biography
Born in t ...
.
Biography
Brazz Brothers was initiated by the brothers Jarle, Jan Magne and Helge Førde, together with the brothers Runar and Stein Erik Tafjord in 1981 as a pure Brass Quintet. They had played together in «Langevåg Skulekorps». The Førde brothers had already been part of «Ytre Suløens Jassensemble» in 1976 at Jazz & Heritage Festival in
Egil «Bop» Johansen (1934–1998) joined the band, and together they played more than 1200 concerts. After his demise Marcus Lewin from
Eskilstuna, Sweden
Eskilstuna () is a city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 67,359 inhabitants in 2015, with a total population of 100,092 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality (2014). Eskilstuna ha ...
was asked to be his successor. In the period 1990–1995, they had an extensive with the American trumpet star
Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Biography
Born in t ...
.
In 1986 The Brazz Brothers started the recording of their first album, ''Brazzy Landscapes'', the start of a unique music history. The album comprised the band's own compositions and arrangements, with the appearance of the British singer
Phil Minton
Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter.
Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...
.
The music is a unique mixture of traditional and contemporary jazz combined with traditional folk musikk from different parts of the world, with strong representation from the Scandinavian folk tradition. The band has released several albums with great legends and also lesser known but highly talented musicians. They have toured both in Norway and internationally, in the US,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and large parts of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
, and deliver more than 120 concerts a year. All members also conducted a number of solo projects.
Many school band members throughout Norway have been acquainted with the group throughout their course in learning to play without notes, which the group holds both for beginners, advanced, professional and music educators bouth in and out of Norwayand.
Band members
Present members
*Jarle Førde -
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
&
flugelhorn
The flugelhorn (), also spelled fluegelhorn, flugel horn, or flügelhorn, is a brass instrument that resembles the trumpet and cornet but has a wider, more conical bore. Like trumpets and cornets, most flugelhorns are pitched in B, though some ...
French horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
*Helge Førde -
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the Brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the Standing wave, air column ...
tuba
The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th century, making it one of the ne ...
*Kenneth Ekornes -
drums
A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...
Gammleng-prisen
The Gammleng Award ( no, Gammleng-prisen) is a Norwegian culture award created by ''The Fund for Performing Artists'' in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the ''Rolf Gammleng award to performing art ...
*1987: ''Brazzy Landscapes''
*1989: ''Live at Oslo Jazz House''
*1992: ''Norwegian Air'' (Norsk Plateproduksjon)
*1993: ''AfroBrazz'' (Norsk Plateproduksjon)
*1994: ''All Included'' ()
*1995: ''Julefergå'' (Norske Gram)
*1996: ''The Brazz Brothers and Dutch Marine Band'' ()
*1996: ''Brazzy Voices'' (In+Out Records), with
Lester Bowie
Lester Bowie (October 11, 1941 – November 8, 1999) was an American jazz trumpet player and composer. He was a member of the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians and co-founded the Art Ensemble of Chicago.
Biography
Born in t ...
*1997: ''Roll Tide Roll'' ()
*1998: ''New Orleans Parade'' , ''Towards The Sea''
*1999: ''Ngoma'' (BrazzRecords)
*2000: ''Aftenvind'' (BrazzRecords), with Povl Dissing
*2001: ''Aquarium'' (BrazzRecords)
*2003: ''Live in Cape Town'' (BrazzRecords)
*2004: ''African Marketplace'' (BrazzRecords), with «Kongelige Norske Marines Musikkorps»
*2004: ''Rosalina'' (BrazzRecords), with Povl Dissing &