Trondheim Jazz Orchestra (TJO) (established 1999 in

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 ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

) is an orchestral project based in Trondheim, and closely related to both the Midtnorsk Jazzsenter (MNJ - Mid Norwegian Jazz Center) and Jazz Line at the Trøndelag Conservatory of Music ( NTNU).

Biography

During the 1990s the orchestra was a plain conservatory-band (Konsen Big Band). In 2000 the name of the band was changed to TJO. An important feature with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra is the band's flexible and varying size crew. The orchestra works on a project basis and performs mainly commissioned works of selected composers. TJO has collaborated with Norwegian

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 Defi ...

s such as

Erlend Skomsvoll Erlend Fredrik Skomsvoll (born 12 May 1969) is a Norwegian jazz musician (piano, keyboards, accordion, and tuba), band leader, composer and arranger, known from his own band Skomsork and the band Wibutee with Live Maria Roggen, Madrugada, and K ...

Eirik Hegdal Eirik Hegdal (born 3 October 1973 in Gjøvik, Norway) is a Norwegian Jazz musician (saxophone), composer, arranger and music teacher, known from the band Dingobats (1995-2005) and as leader of Trondheim Jazz Orchestra (from 2002). Career After ...

Vigleik Storaas Vigleik Storaas (born 2 February 1963) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, and the younger brother of composer and bassist Gaute Storaas. He is known from a series of album releases and collaborations with jazz musicians such as Norma Win ...

Jon Balke Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the Magnetic North Orchestra. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke. Career Balke started playing classical piano but switched to blues at 12, though he pe ...

Knut Kristiansen Knut Johan Bratland Kristiansen (born 14 April 1946) is a Norwegian composer and jazz musician (piano), known from Bergen jazz life primarily for his many interpretations of the music of Thelonious Monk as orchestra leader his own bands with var ...

Geir Lysne Geir Øystein Lysne (born 9 October 1965 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone, flute, composer, arranger) and a famous Big Band leader. Career Geir Lysne is a Norwegian conductor, composer, produser and teacher, educate ...

Terje Rypdal Terje Rypdal (born 23 August 1947) is a Norwegian guitarist and composer. He has been an important member in the Norwegian jazz community, and has also given show concerts with guitarists Ronni Le Tekrø and Mads Eriksen as "N3". Career Rypdal ...

and

Bendik Hofseth Bendik Hofseth (born 19 October 1962, in Oslo) is a Norwegian jazz musician, who plays the saxophone and sings. He is also a bandleader, and arranges and composes music. Career When Bendik Hofseth went to New York in 1987, and replaced the wor ...

, as well as with international soloists such as

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

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

New York Voices New York Voices is a jazz vocal group that was founded in 1987 by Peter Eldridge, Caprice Fox, Sara Krieger, Darmon Meader, and Kim Nazarian. All except Krieger were members of an alumni group from Ithaca College that toured Europe in 1986. They ...

, Birger Sulsbruck and

Joshua Redman Joshua Redman (born February 1, 1969) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He is the son of jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman (1931–2006). Life and career Joshua Redman was born in Berkeley, California, to jazz saxophonist Dewey Redman ...

. In 2001 TJO toured

extensively with

, a cooperation based on the concert at

Moldejazz Molde International Jazz Festival (MIJF) or Moldejazz (established 1961 in Molde) takes place annually in July, and is known as one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe. It was initiated by the local Storyville Jazz Club. Since 1964 it has rec ...

2000. The collaboration resulted in a CD-release (''Live in Molde''), which has sold more than 8000 copies in Norway. The collaboration with

was resumed in 2006 with a concert at the Hilton Ballroom in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

during the Annual Jazz Conference (IAJE) in January of that year. This concert was a huge success, (in Norwegian) and as a result the orchestra was invited to the Tokyo Jazz Festival 2006. The cooperation between TJO and

was successful once again and well received by a huge group of spectators while also being televised nationally.

John Kelman John Kelman (born 30 September 1968) is a Barbadian boxer. He competed in the men's featherweight event at the 1996 Summer Olympics. After the referee stopped his opening bout against János Nagy of Hungary, Kelman angrily threw one of his gl ...

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

, states: "... a far reaching orchestra clearly capable of handling anything and everything that's put in front of it". In 2003 the orchestra went on tour in Norway with

. This edition of TJO included musicians such as

Live Maria Roggen Live Maria Roggen (born 22 March 1970) is a Norwegian jazz singer, songwriter and composer. Roggen was born in Oslo and educated at Foss High School (violin and vocals). She studied sociology and Musicology intermediate at the University of Osl ...

Ola Kvernberg Ola Kvernberg (born 16 June 1981) is a Norwegian jazz musician known for his virtuosic string swing violin playing and his international performances. He is the son of traditional musicians Liv Rypdal Kvernberg and Torbjørn Kvernberg, and the br ...

and

Steinar Nickelsen Steinar Sønk Nickelsen (born 5 October 1978) is a Norwegian jazz musician (Hammond organ and piano) from Bærum, known from several bands and album releases. Biography Nickelsen was born in Oslo, and became well known in Norway when he was awa ...

. On

2006 TJO did a project with music by

featuring

as a soloist, followed by a tour in the late fall of 2008. During ''Trondheim Chamber Music Festival'' TJO gave their first performance of commissioned work by

saxophonist 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 2007 Trondheim Jazz Orchestra were chosen to be the first national «Big Jazz Ensemble» to receive a permanent state

subsidy A subsidy or government incentive is a form of financial aid or support extended to an economic sector (business, or individual) generally with the aim of promoting economic and social policy. Although commonly extended from the government, the ter ...

. In 2012 TJO performed at the "Ultima Festival" in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) 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 ...

, Norway, performing a new work by Kim Myhr that, in addition to the guitarist, also featured singer

Jenny Hval Jenny Hval (born 11 July 1980) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter, record producer, musician, and novelist. She has released eight solo albums, two under the alias Rockettothesky and six under her own name. In 2015, Hval released her fifth studio ...

Honors

*2014:

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizati ...

in the category Jazz, with

Marius Neset Marius Søfteland Neset (born 2 January 1985 in Os, Hordaland) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone) living in Copenhagen. He is known from collaborations within the jazz bands "People Are Machines", "Kaktusch", "JazzKamikaze" and Django Bat ...

for the album ''Lion''

Discography

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

: ''Live in Molde'' with

(MNJ Records) – live recorded at

2000 * 2005: ''We Are?'' with

( Jazzaway) – recorded in 2004. featuring vocalist

Siri Gjære Siri Gjære (born 1 February 1972 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist from Levanger, known for her collaborations with musicians like Tord Gustavsen, Stian Carstensen, Eirik Hegdal, Maria Kannegaard, Jarle Bernhoft, Eldbjørg Ra ...

. *

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

: ''Tribute'' with

(MNJ Records) – live recorded in 2004 from 25 years anniversary for the Jazz Line at (NTNU) *

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

: ''Live in Oslo'' with

Maria Kannegaard Maria Kannegaard (born 6 October 1970) is a Danish-born Norwegian jazz musician and pianist. She has lived in Norway since age 10. She is known from her own ''Maria Kannegaard trio'' and cooperation with, among others Live Maria Roggen's ''LiveB ...

Trio (MNJ Records) – from the Cosmopolite jazz scene in Oslo. music arranged by

. *

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

: ''Wood And Water'' (MNJ Records) – 24 songs by

, with contributions by hired

, Nils-Olav Johansen,

Ståle Storløkken Ståle Storløkken (born 22 February 1969 in Dombås, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (keyboards, organ and piano) and composer, known for collaborations with artists like Terje Rypdal, BigBang, Supersilent and Motorpsycho. Store Norske Leks ...

Ole Morten Vågan Ole Morten Vågan (born 8 May 1979) is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer (upright bass), and the older brother of guitarist Petter Vågan. He is known from several recordings and is currently acting as artistic director for the Trondheim ...

and

Tor Haugerud Tor Andreas Haugerud (born 7 January 1962 in Brattvåg) is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums and percussion) known from Transjoik, Blixband, BOL, Möster Trio, and has created his own avant-garde band "MisterYtor" ("Nordland Musikkfestuke", 20 ...

* 2008: ''Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Kobert'' (Kobert Self-Released) – studio Version of the commissioned work to

2008 *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

: ''What If? A counterfactual fairytale'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

: ''Stems and Cages'' (MNJ Records) – Kim Myhr's commissioned work to

2009, with contributions by among others

Sidsel Endresen Sidsel Endresen (born 19 June 1952) is a Norwegian singer, composer, and actress. She was part of the Jon Eberson group. Since 1987, Endresen has pursued a successful solo career, recording for ECM. Career Endresen was one of the most prono ...

Christian Wallumrød Christian Wallumrød (born 26 April 1971 in Kongsberg, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (piano, organ and electronic keyboards) and composer, and is considered one of the most prominent musicians of the younger Norwegian generation, known from ...

and

Ingar Zach Ingar Zach (born 29 June 1971 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian percussionist and businessman, known from several recordings. Career In the 1990s Zach played within Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag and 'Harnihomba', while studying music at the Univer ...

* 2010: ''Triads and More'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

: ''Morning Songs'' (MNJ Records) – under the direction of composer and bass player

Per Zanussi Per Zanussi (born 1977) is an Italian–Norwegian jazz musician (double bass, upright bass) and composer, known from several bands and releases such as with Hamid Drake, Louis Moholo, Paal Nilssen-Love, Bobby Bradford, Sabir Mateen, Franklin Kie ...

* 2011: ''Kinetic Music'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

Magic Pocket Magic Pocket (established 2002 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz band initiated by students on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium. Career Magic Pocket is a Brass Band in miniature, performing music in the open area betwe ...

* 2011: ''Migrations'' (MNJ Records) – feat. Øyvind Brække *

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

: ''

The Death Defying Unicorn ''The Death Defying Unicorn'' is the fifteenth full-length studio album by the Norwegian band Motorpsycho, released on 10 February 2012 via Rune Grammofon and Stickman Records. It was released on double CD and double 12" vinyl. It is a collabora ...

'' (

Rune Grammofon Rune Grammofon is a Norwegian record label founded in 1998 by Rune Kristoffersen. Rune Grammofon's reputation for lovingly issued experimental electronic music, jazz, and improvised music by Norwegian artists has grown over the years with its art ...

) – feat.

Motorpsycho Motorpsycho may refer to: * Motorpsycho (band), a Norwegian rock band * ''Motorpsycho'' (film), a 1965 film by Russ Meyer * ''Motorpsycho Presents The International Tussler Society'', a 2004 album by The International Tussler Society * "Motorpsych ...

and

Supersilent Supersilent is a Norwegian avant-garde-improvisational music group formed at Nattjazz in Bergen in 1997. The trio Veslefrekk was asked to play with electronic musician Helge "Deathprod" Stein. The fusion of the experimental jazz group with Sten' ...

keyboardist

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

: ''Sidewalk Comedy'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

: ''Ekko'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

Elin Rosseland Elin Rosseland (born 5 April 1959 in Norway) is a singer, bandleader, and composer who studied at the Norwegian Academy of Music and is known from collaborations with Vigleik Storaas, Johannes Eick, Sidsel Endresen, Eldbjørg Raknes, Christian W ...

* 2014: ''Lion'' (ACT Music) – under the direction of

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

: ''Savages'' (MNJ Records) – feat.

Kristoffer Lo Kristoffer Lo (born 19 February 1985 in Moss, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (tuba, flugabone, guitar, keyboards) and composer. Biography Lo has redefined the use of tuba and its role in band. From its traditional role as the low-end ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

: ''In the End His Voice Will Be the Sound of Paper'' with Kim Myhr &

(Hubro)

References

External links

*
Trondheim Jazzorkester på Facebook
{{Authority control Big bands Norwegian jazz ensembles Spellemannprisen winners Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Trondheim