Jazz Articles about Espen Berg

About Espen Berg

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Espen Berg Trio: Rue Saint-Michel

by Carl Medsker
October 4, 2026

The piano trios of Tord Gustavsen, Espen Eriksen and Espen Berg share a Norwegian terroir, but differ in expression. In a flagrant oversimplification, Gustavsen tends toward introspective rumination with classical undertones, while Eriksen revels in lyricism. Then there is Berg, who spits the difference, with added rhythmic complexity. Like three exceptional yet distinct wines from one region, each is complex and engrossing, each with its emotional pairing. Here is a taste from Entropies (Svale Records, 2026)--full-bodied, well-structured, enhanced ...

Radio & Podcasts

Espen Berg, Zoe Rahman, Joe Henderson, Erica von Kleist, Misha Mullov-Abbado, James Davison

by Ludovico Granvassu
September 25, 2026

Something traditional, something experimental, something live, something in the studio--and plenty of fun in between, for a selection designed to please many palates. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Espen Berg Trio “Equilibrium suite, pt.2" Entropies (Svale) 0:16 Host talks 4:00 Zoe Rahman “Red Squirrel (Live)" Hull Suite (Live) (Manushi) 5:07 Host talks 14:18 Misha Mullov-Abbado, James Davison “That's a Plenty" Moon Beams (Boy Boy) 15:18 ...

Album Review

Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Espen Berg: Maetrix

by Chris May
August 17, 2024

Lana and Lilly Wachowski's The Matrix (1999)--an inspiration for Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg's Maetrix--divides opinion. The movie is regarded by some, including one assumes Berg, as a prescient masterpiece addressing the existential threat posed to humanity by digital technology. Others say it is pretentious twaddle. No worries. Discord is unlikely to greet Maetrix. Berg's gift for writing good tunes is front and center, the toplines and soloists riding rhythmic platforms which are borderline reminiscent of ...

Album Review

Espen Berg: Water Fabric

Read "Water Fabric" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
November 10, 2023

The Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg has already carved out a formidable reputation with his trio. Earlier in 2023 he began a parallel strand with The Trondheim Concert (NXN), the recording of a wholly in-the-moment improvised solo concert, in the Keith Jarrett tradition, which he gave in 2019. Berg has since released two more albums in the same vein: The Nidaros Concert and The Hamar Concert (both NXN, 2023). Berg is also heard to advantage in ...

Album Review

Anders Lønne Grønseth & Multiverse: Inner View

by Chris May
May 23, 2023

Since George Russell published his influential Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization in 1953, other jazz musicians have attempted to reforge the theoretical construct of their music--with varying degrees of success and including some egregiously posturing examples of b.s. which bring to mind Hans Christian Andersen's salutary story The Emperor's New Clothes. One twenty-first century venture which authentically hits the mark is Israeli-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur's Middle Path, his deft recalibration of microtonal Indian ...

Liner Notes

Espen Berg: The Trondheim Concert

by Chris May
February 5, 2023

The idea of free improvisation means different things to different people. For some it suggests the lineage that began with the so-called “energy players" of the late 1960s, musically untutored berserkers whose enthusiasm for Albert Ayler, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders inspired them to pick up a horn and play whatever notes fell at random under their fingers, typically at maximum volume. A possibly apocryphal story concerns one such energy player and New York City's Jazzmobile outreach ...

Liner Notes

Espen Berg Trio: Free To Play

by Chris May
February 3, 2023

If you ask a jazz fan to name the greatest piano-trio albums ever made, the probability is that their top twenty choices will include most, if not all, of the following: Erroll Garner's Concert By The Sea (Columbia, 1955), Ahmad Jamal's But Not For Me (Argo, 1958), Bill Evans's Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961), Keith Jarrett's Standards Volume 2 (ECM, 1983) and Brad Mehldau's The Art Of The Trio Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996), or in the cases ...