Frode Thingnæs (20 March 1940 – 15 November 2012) was a Norwegian

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

composer, arranger, conductor and

trombone The trombone (, 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 lips vibrate inside a mouthpiece, causing the Standing wave, air c ...

player who formed the Frode Thingnæs Quintet in 1960.

Career

Thingnæs was introduced to music at eight years old, when he started to play in a Sinsen school band. His first instrument was the trumpet, but in 1953 he took up the instrument he would come to be known for: the trombone. Due to his success at a young age, he was able to continue his musical education at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen, where he met other rising musicians. From 1959 onward, Thingnæs met and performed with the bands of Bjørn Jacobsen, Gunnar Brostigen, Mikkel Flagstad and

Kjell Karlsen Kjell Oddvar Karlsen (29 July 1931 – 5 May 2020) was a Norwegian band leader, composer, arranger, jazz pianist and organist, and a Nestor of Norwegian music and show business, with a career spanning more than 60 years. He was the father of the ...

. Starting in 1961, he led his own quartet, which over time included Egil Kapstad, Terje Rypdal, Laila Dalseth, Espen Rud, Bjørn Alterhaug and Per Husby. However, it was the ''Frode Thingnæs Quintet'' (including Henryk Lysiak, Jan Erik Kongshaug, Pete Knutsen, and Thor Andreassen) that was included on Norway's first jazz album, released in 1963. In 1967 Thingnæs was named best trombonist in the magazine 'Jazznytt musician vote' and in 1969 he led a Norwegian sextet at the prestigious

Montreux Jazz Festival The Montreux Jazz Festival (formerly Festival de Jazz Montreux and Festival International de Jazz Montreux) is a music festival in Switzerland, held annually in early July in Montreux on the Lake Geneva shoreline. It is the second-largest annu ...

. Although Thingnæs is best known for his role in the jazz community, he also made major contributions to many areas in Norwegian music. In 1960, he took the prestigious role of

kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

at Norway's most famous

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theater,

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. While there, he collaborated with entertainers including

Einar Schanke Einar Leonard Schanke (19 May 1927 – 23 February 1992) was a Norwegian composer, pianist, revue writer, theatre director and theatrical producer. He wrote revues for the Edderkoppen Theatre, and later for Chat Noir, where he was also directo ...

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and actor Yngvar Numme. He also worked with the rock band Popol Ace and conducted the

Norwegian Radio Orchestra The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Norwegian, ''Kringkastingsorkestret'', abbreviated as KORK) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (''Norsk rikskringkasting AS'', or NRK). Its principal base is the ''Store Studi ...

. Together with

Philip Kruse Philip Antony Kruse (born 13 May 1949) is a Norwegian orchestra leader, composer, arranger, producer, text writer, and musician (trumpet and vocals). He is the second son of Colonel Erling O. Kruse (b. 1922) and Eunice Cooklin (b. 1925). Career ...

, Thingnæs wrote the music for the Norwegian

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

entries "Hvor er du?" (1974, English title " The First Day of Love") and "

Mata Hari Margaretha Geertruida MacLeod (, ; 7 August 187615 October 1917), better known by the stage name Mata Hari ( , ; , ), was a Dutch Stripper, exotic dancer and courtesan who was convicted of being a spy for German Empire, Germany during World War ...

" (1976), both performed by his former wife,

Anne-Karine Strøm Anne-Karine Strøm (born 15 October 1951) is a Norwegian singer, best known for having taken part in the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest selection, Melodi Grand Prix, in six consecutive years between 1971 and 1976, winning on three occasions ( ...

. Both Thingnæs and Strøm were members of the jury-member "Finn Eriksen's Orchestra" at the time. Other pop music collaborations include

Wenche Myhre Wenche Synnøve Myhre (born 15 February 1947), known in German as Wencke Myhre, is a Norwegian singer who has had a great number of hit songs since the 1960s in the Norwegian, Danish, German and Swedish markets and languages. She represented Ger ...

Lill Lindfors Maj Lillemor "Lill" Lindfors (born 12 May 1940) is a Swedish singer who has performed in Scandinavia since the 1960s. She and Svante Thuresson performed the song " Nygammal Vals" ("New, yet familiar waltz") as the Swedish entrants in the 196 ...

and

Svante Thuresson Svante Thuresson (7 February 1937 – 10 May 2021) was a Swedish jazz musician. He started his career as a drummer before joining the band Gals and Pals in 1963. Svante won the national selection and represented Sweden in the Eurovision song c ...

, as well as production credits for, among others,

Bodega Band Bodega Band (established 1929 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz orchestra based in Trondheim, and part of "Studentersamfundets Orkester" at the Studentersamfundet i Trondhjem. The original sextet was established during the student festiv ...

(1977). In addition, Thingnæs worked as a conductor at two Oslo theaters, the Forsvarets staff music corps and, for over thirty years, the Kampen Janitsjarorkester. He composed for the Melodi Grand Prix in 1974 "Hvor er du?" and the 1976 "Mata Hari" (both times for Anne-Karine Strøm). His Flåklypaballetten for symphony orchestra was performed at the Norwegian Opera in 1985. In the same year, Thingnæs created his "Sonnets to Sundry Notes" of Music for symphony orchestra, big band and choir, based on texts by

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. His most renowned original works may be ''Wheels'' and the '' Flåklypa ballet'' (1985), performed at the

Norwegian National Opera The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet () is a Norwegian opera company and ballet company. The first fully professional company each for opera and ballet in Norway and the only such professional organisation in the country, it is currently resi ...

. In his latter years, he led a quintet together with Harald Gundhus. Frode Thingnæs died 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 ...

in November 2012, aged 72.

Honors

*1970: Buddy Prize awarded by the Norwegian Jazz Federation *1980: Spellemann Prize in the class Jazz for the album ''Direct to Dish'' *1983:

Gammleng Award The Gammleng Award () 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 artists'' (). It's awa ...

as a studio musician *1999: The Norwegian King's Medal of Merit in gold *1999: Honorary Citizen of

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Personal life

Thingnæs was married to actress and drama teacher Marianne Mørk (b. 16 May 1953) on 2 June 1979. They had two children together: pianist Magnus Alexander Mørk Thingnæs (b. 1984), and filmmaker Maren Victoria Thingnæs (b. 1991).

Selected discography

Solo albums

;Big Band *1974: ''Feelin' All Right'' (

Polydor Records Polydor Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in ...

) ;Frode Thingnæs Quintet *1978: ''Nightsounds'' (Talent Records) *1980: ''Direct to Dish'' (

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

) *1981: ''Queen Python'' (Philips Records) *1994: ''Watch What Happens!'' (Gemini Records), including with

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 ...

Terje Gewelt Terje Gewelt (born 8 June 1960) is a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass). Career Gewelt was born in Oslo and raised in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast of Norway. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to elect ...

Collaborations

; Kampen Janitsjarorkester *1990: ''Sing as we Go'' (Kampen Janitsjar) *2002: ''From Kampen to New Orleans'' (Kampen Janitsjar) *2008: ''Samspill''(Kampen Janitsjar) ;With Bjørn Alterhaug, Bjørn Johansen, Egil Kapstad & Laila Dalseth *1991: ''Some Other Time'' (Gemini Records) ;Antonsen Big Band *2007: ''Antonsen Big Band'' (Ponca Jazz) ; Kjell Karlsen Big Band *2008: ''Edvard Grieg in Jazz Mood'' (

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum ...

)

References

External links

*
Frode Thingnæs er død
memorial by Tone Staude & Oddvin Aune on

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 ...

(in Norwegian)
Maren lager film om sin far Frode Thingnæs
(in Norwegian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Thingnaes, Frode People from Nore og Uvdal 20th-century Norwegian trombonists 21st-century Norwegian trombonists Norwegian jazz trombonists Norwegian male trombonists Norwegian jazz composers Norwegian jazz bandleaders Norwegian conductors (music) Norwegian male conductors (music) Spellemannprisen winners Musicians from Oslo 1940 births 2012 deaths Norwegian male jazz composers 20th-century Norwegian male musicians 21st-century Norwegian male musicians