Bjørn John Johansen (23 May 1940 – 6 May 2002) was a Norwegian jazz musician ( baritone,

tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors i ...

& alto saxophones, clarinet and flute), known from a number of recordings and international cooperation. He has been one of the most influential Norwegian saxophonists of all time and has been the inspiration for a generations of musicians, among them

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, Czesła ...

Career

Johansen was born in

Fredrikstad, Norway Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

. Strongly influenced by 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 history of jazz and 20th-century music. Born and rai ...

, he joined orchestras led by Gunnar Brostigen, Kjell Karlsen (1956–59), Lars Sandsgaard,

Pete Brown Peter Ronald Brown (born 25 December 1940) is an English performance poet, lyricist, and singer best known for his collaborations with Cream and Jack Bruce. Colin Larkin, ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'', (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 80 ...

, and Arild Wikstrøm (1961). In addition to playing with

Karin Krog Karin Krog (born 15 May 1937) is a Norwegian jazz singer. Life and career Krog began singing jazz as a teenager and attracted attention while performing in jam sessions in Oslo. In 1955, she was hired by the pianist Kjell Karlsen to sing i ...

Bernt Rosengren Bernt Rosengren (born 24 December 1937, in Stockholm, Sweden) is 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 ag ...

George Gruntz George Gruntz (24 June 1932 – 10 January 2013) was a Swiss jazz pianist, organist, harpsichordist, keyboardist, and composer known for the George Gruntz Concert Big Band and his work with Phil Woods, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Don Cherry, Chet Baker, ...

Frode Thingnæs Frode Thingnæs (20 March 1940 – 15 November 2012) was a Norwegian jazz composer, arranger, conductor and trombone player who formed the Frode Thingnæs Quintet in 1960. Career Thingnæs was introduced to music at eight years old, when he st ...

Egil Kapstad Egil Kapstad (6 August 1940 – 13 July 2017) was a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer and arranger. He wrote the music for more than 50 theatre productions, and composed for film and television drama. Kapstad composed classical works for orchestr ...

, Helge Hurum/Thorleif Østereng/«Radiostorbandet» (1966–90),

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who are members of the Co ...

Big Band (73),

Laila Dalseth Laila Dalseth (born 6 November 1940) is a Norwegian jazz singer. She was formerly married to the jazz saxophonist Theodor "Totti" Bergh (1935–2012). Career After an early debut in her hometown of Bergen, Dalseth was active on the Oslo jazz ...

, Bjørn Alterhaug, and within the «Fatah Morgana Quartet». He was sentral on the Norwegian jazzscenes within bands like his own Kapstad/Johansen Quartet, including Bjørn Alterhaug (bass) and Ole Jacob Hansen (drums), releasing the album ''Friends'' (1980), and Bjørn Johansen Quartet, including Carl Morten Iversen (bass), Ole Jacob Hansen (drums) and Erling Aksdal (piano), releasing ''Dear Henrik'' (1984). Johansen also released the album ''Take one'' featuring

Cedar Walton Cedar Anthony Walton Jr. (January 17, 1934 – August 19, 2013) was an American hard bop jazz pianist. He came to prominence as a member of drummer Art Blakey's band, The Jazz Messengers, before establishing a long career as a bandleader and ...

(1987), that was awarded

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 ...

1987. His compositions are published by Norsk Jazzforlag (2004). He died, aged 61, 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 ...

Honors

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 ...

1962 *«Statens arbeidsstipend» 1981 *

1987 in the class Jazz, for the album ''Take one'' *

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 ar ...

1997 in the class Jazz

Discography

Soloalbums

*1986: ''Dear Henrik'' (

Gemini Music Sun TV Network is an Indian mass media company headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is a part of Sun Group and is one of Asia's largest TV networks. Established on 14 April 1992 by Kalanithi Maran, it owns a variety of television ...

) *1987: ''Take One'' (

Odin Records Odin Records is a 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 Oslo, so Od ...

), feat. Cedar Walton Trio *1990: ''Some Other Time'' (), with

, Bjørn Alterhaug,

*2001: ''Portrait of a Norwegian Jazz Artist'' (Gemini Records)

Collaborative works

;Within «Public Enemies» *1965: ''Elevate Me'' *1966: ''From Public Enemies Without Love'' *1966: ''Sunny'' (), feat.

;With

*1968: ''Syner'' (Norsk Jazzforum), with Choir & Orchestra *1979: ''Til jorden'' (Pan Records 2005), feat. the poet Rolf Jacobsen *1980: ''Friends'' (

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 350 ...

), within Kapstad/Johansen Quartet *1994: ''Remembrance'', within Egil Kapstad Trio ;Within «Blix Band» *1997: ''På en lyserød sky'' *1999: ''Texas'' ;With other projects *1963: ''Metropol Jazz: Jazz Sounds From Norway'' *1967: ''Rosemalt Sound'', with

Alf Cranner Alf Cranner (25 October 1936 – 3 March 2020) was a major Norwegian folk singer, lyricist and painter, considered by many to be the pioneer of the Norwegian folk music wave of the 1960s. (in Norwegian) (in Norwegian) The citation for the award ...

*1974: ''Syng, klapp & swing - Grammofonplate med barn og Harald Gundhus'' (Dyklestiker Grannofon 2005) *1976: ''Peacemaker'' (Gemini Records 2003), with Per Husby Septett *1980: ''Hva er det de vil? Live fra ABC-Teateret'', with

Odd Børretzen Odd Lunde Børretzen (21 November 1926 – 3 November 2012) was a Norwegian author, illustrator, translator, and one of the most significant text writers, folk singers and artists in Norway. Biography Børretzen was born in Fister in t ...

& Alf Cranner *1980: ''Jargong vålereng, with Rolf Søder *1983: ''Norsk Jazz 1960-1980'' *1984: ''Epilog'' *1986: ''The Norwegian Radio Big Band meets Bob Florence'' (

), with

Bob Florence Bob Florence (May 20, 1932 – May 15, 2008) was an American pianist, composer, arranger, and big band leader. Career A child prodigy, Florence began piano lessons before he was five years old and at seven gave his first recital. Although h ...

*1988: ''The Jazz Sampler'' *1988: ''

Alfred Janson Alfred Janson (10 March 1937 – 19 May 2019) was a Norwegian pianist and composer. He was born in Oslo as the son of sculptor Gunnar Janson and pianist Margrethe Gleditsch, and was brother of journalist Mette Janson. He was first married to actr ...

'' *1989: ''The Odin Sampler - Jazz out of Norway'' *1990: ''Jazzpoem, Vol. 1'', with

Ola Calmeyer Ola Mathias Calmeyer (14 April 1930 in Oslo - 5 June 2003) was a Norwegian jazz pianist. He was the brother of the actor Joachim Calmeyer and the author Bengt Calmeyer, and known from a number of collaborations and album releases. Biography Aft ...

*1991: ''The Jazz Sampler Vol. 2'' *1991: ''Constellations'' (Odin Records), with Bjørn Alterhaug *1993: ''Norske bilder - Sounds and Visions of Norway'' *1993: ''Med lyset på'', within «Norsk Utflukt» *1996: ''Close Erase'', within «Close Erase» *1996:: ''Mr. Swingstang'', within «Mr. Swingstang» *1996: ''I livd av blå syrin'', within «Busserullen» *1997: ''Rett opp fra elva'', within «Sagene Ring» *1997: ''Andre bilder'' Vigleik Storaas Trio *1998: ''Odd Børretzens mest ålreite'' (Bare Bra Musikk) *1998: ''Imagic'', with Niels Præstholm & «Embla Nordic Project» *1999: ''Oslo Jazz Circle 50 år - Jubileumskonsert 1998 - Vol. 2'' *2000:: ''One of a Kind'', with

*2001: ''Cool, Kløver & Dixie - Jazz in Norway Vol. 3'' *2003: ''Bjørn Johansen in Memoriam'' (

) *2003: ''Turning Pages - Jazz in Norway vol. 4'' *2003: ''50 beste fra 40 år'', with

*2005: ''Jazz Collection 1'' *2007: ''Spectre: The Unreleased Works 1971-1982'' (Plastic Strip), with Helge Hurum *2008: ''Unreleased Works 1969-1979'' (Plastic Strip), with Christian Reim *2010: ''Our Buddy'', with Ola Calmeyer

References

External links

Bjørn Johansen Biografi on Norsk MusikkinformasjonPoncajazz RecordsBjørn John Johansen
on

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' ( no, Store Norske Leksikon, abbreviated ''SNL''), is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with more than two million unique vis ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansen, Bjorn 1940 births 2002 deaths Musicians from Fredrikstad Avant-garde jazz musicians Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian jazz saxophonists Gemini Records artists 20th-century saxophonists