Søyr (established 1976 in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

) is a Norwegian musical group, led from the start of trumpeter Torgrim Sollid.

Biography

Søyr was initially inspired by folk music from

Stor-Elvdal Municipality Stor-Elvdal is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village o ...

(among others Ole Mørk Sandvik) and released the album ''Søyr'' (1977) and ''Cierny Peter'' (1983), and performed at

Kongsberg Jazzfestival Kongsberg Jazz Festival or Kongsberg Jazzfestival is an international jazz festival that has been held annually in Kongsberg, Norway, since 1964. Artists Several worldwide great artists have visited Kongsberg during this festival; internation ...

1977. The band is still active, and was involved on tour in South Africa in the summer of 2004. The Free State «Søyr» was established in Moldejazz 1997. The band moved (with leader Sollid) to

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 ...

and assumed a more

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

style with a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

flair.

Dag Arnesen Dag Syver Arnesen (born 3 May 1950) is a Norwegian jazz pianist with a series of album releases. Career Arnesen was born in Bergen, and studied classical piano under Jiri Hlinka at the Bergen Music Conservatory and got a commitment by Den ...

was in the lineup 1981–82, and also

Kenny Wheeler Kenneth Vincent John Wheeler, Order of Canada, OC (14 January 1930 – 18 September 2014) was a Canadian composer and trumpet and flugelhorn player, based in the U.K. from the 1950s onwards. Most of his performances were rooted in jazz, but he w ...

played within Søyr for four years. «Nye Søyr» released compositions by Vidar Johansen, Rune Klakegg, Torgrim Sollid, Rob Waring and Jon Balke på platen ''Vectors'' (1988) with the original lineup. Then came the 25-year anniversary with a new album ''Alene hjemme'' (2001).

Original lineup

* Elin Rosseland - vocals * Tove Karoline Knutsen - vocals (album 1) * Torgrim Sollid - trumpet (album 1) *Åge Midtgård - trumpet (album 1) * John Pål Inderberg - soprano saxophone & tenor saxophone (album 1) *Ove Stokstad - soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone & baritone saxophone (album 1) *Tore Engstrøm - alto saxophone (album 1) *Nils Tro - tenor saxophone (album 1) *Tor A. Ramstad - baritone saxophone *Jan Andresen - saxophones and bass clarinet *Nils Jansen - saxophones and bass clarinet *Per Gamre - trombone (album 1) *Bodil Vossgård - cello * Rob Waring - vibraphone and percussion *Morten Lassem - piano (album 1) * Rune Klakegg - piano and synth * Bjørn Alterhaug - double bass (album 1) *Tor Mathisrud - double bass * Carl Haakon Waadeland - drums (album 1) * Frank Jakobsen - drums * Tom Olstad - drums

New members

* Edvard Askeland - bass (album 2 & 3) *

Eldbjørg Raknes Eldbjørg Raknes (born 9 February 1970 in Midsund Municipality, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist known for her a cappella vocal performances, innovative improvised vocals and electronic effects. She has collaborated with musicians such as Jo ...

- vocals (1994–96) * Morten Halle - saxophone (album 2 & 3) * Vidar Johansen - saxophone (1991–) * Astrid Kvalbein - vocals (album 3) * Christian Jaksjø - trombone (album 3) * Guro Gravem Johansen - vocals (album 3) * Knut Aalefjær - drums and percussion * Per Einar Watle - guitar * Erling Aksdal - piano * Børge Petersen-Øverleir - guitar *

Torstein Lofthus Torstein Lofthus (born 10 March 1977) is a Norway, Norwegian drummer and composer who has been a member of the bands Shining (Norwegian band), Shining, Elephant9, the Mathias Eick Band, D'Sound, and Ebersson/Zanussi/Lofthus. He is married to Hege ...

- drums

Discography

*1977: ''Søyr'' (MAI 7705) *1983: ''Cierny Peter'' (

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 ...

LP 12), recorded live at Stavanger Jazz Club. *1987: ''Vectors'' (

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 ...

) *1994: ''Bussene lengter hjem'' (

Curling Legs __NOTOC__ Curling Legs Productions A/S (established 1992 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian record label with a catalogue encompassing all styles of jazz and improvised music. It was started by Knut Værnes and Morten Halle to release their own m ...

) *1997: ''Med kjøtt og kjærlighet'' (Curling Legs), with the poetry of Niels Fredrik Dahl and Torgeir Rebolledo Pedersen *2001: ''Alene hjemme'' (Curling Legs)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soyr Norwegian jazz ensembles Big bands Spellemannprisen winners ECM Records artists Musical groups established in 1976 1976 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Trondheim