Jazz Articles about Espen Berg

About Espen Berg

Album Review

Acres of Blue is the second volume of solo piano albums by Norwegian pianist Espen Berg, an organic extension of the most beautiful, Noctilucent (Atterklang, 2012). This time Berg chose to present a mixture of original compositions, improvised pieces, and arrangements of pieces that reference the breadth of his musical vocabulary and his formative influences--romantic compositions of Frédéric Chopin, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Nordic pianists-composers as Esbjörn Svensson, Helge Lien and obviously, Keith Jarrett. All the compositions ...

Album Review

Espen Berg: Noctilucent

Read "Noctilucent" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni

by Eyal Hareuveni
December 28, 2012

It is rare to encounter an artist whose debut already radiates such sheer beauty, but pianist/composer Espen Berg--who has collaborated with fellow Norwegians such as saxophonist Marius Neset and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra--explains, in his liner notes, that he began to plan and experiment with his solo playing eight years ago. Over the years he has perfected a highly personal aesthetic, combining traditional folk elements with spontaneous improvised structures, both in a way that reflect his deepest emotions.