Jazz Articles about Frode Gjerstad

About Frode Gjerstad

Album Review

Gjerstad Schlippenbach Narvesen: Seven Tracks

Read "Seven Tracks" reviewed by John Sharpe

by John Sharpe
July 1, 2026

No messages. No allusions. Just pure music. Seven Tracks arrives stripped of extraneous signposts, its cuts identified only by duration and its content left to speak entirely for itself. Happily the utilitarian approach does not extend to the volatile freeform exchanges between veterans Norwegian reedman Frode Gjerstad and German pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, and Gjerstad's younger countryman drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen. Pianist and drummer form a cohesive unit responsible for three albums in tandem. Drummer and reed player likewise have ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad with Matthew Shipp: We Speak

by John Sharpe
January 14, 2024

While the combination of reedman Frode Gjerstad--the godfather of Norwegian free jazz who dwells about as far from the so-called Nordic sound as you can get--and pianist Matthew Shipp -whose lineage can be traced back through what he terms The Black Mystery School, which takes in Thelonious Monk, Mal Waldron and Randy Weston among others--might seem unlikely, it makes perfect sense when you hear it. From the first piece “About Music" on, it is clear that this pairing is not ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad / Kent Carter / John Stevens: Detail - 90

Read "Detail - 90" reviewed by John Eyles

by John Eyles
September 18, 2021

The group Detail first played together in December 1981. After a short period when the Norwegian pianist Eiven One Pederson was a member, it stabilised as a trio comprising Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad, South African bassist (and one-time Blue Note artist) Johnny Dyani, and British drummer John Stevens; these three recorded the group's first album, Backwards and Forwards (Impetus, 1983), in Norway, in October 1982. More albums followed, with Ness (Impetus, 1986) featuring guests Bobby Bradford, Harry Beckett and Courtney ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad: Day Two

by John Sharpe
August 21, 2019

Detail was a band ahead of its time. The co-operative trio formed in 1981 by Norwegian reedman Frode Gjerstad and English drummer John Stevens, was completed in its first incarnation by South African bassist Johnny Dyani. Day Two was recorded in Gjerstad's hometown Stavanger, and as the name suggests, it was the result of the second day in the studio, following on from the session which generated Backwards And Forwards (Impetus, 1982). Originally released by Gjerstad as Okhela in cassette ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad / Fred Lonberg-Holm / Matthew Shipp: Season of Sadness

Read "Season of Sadness" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
July 31, 2019

Norwegian multi-reedist/composer Frode Gjerstad has been active in free jazz and avant-garde music across five decades. Among his collaborators are Paal Nilssen-Love, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Derek Bailey, William Parker, Sabir Mateen and Johnny Dyani. Gjerstad has toured and played festivals extensively, in Europe and North America, and composed commissioned work for the historic Moldejazz festival. For Season of Sadness he is teamed with long-time associate and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm and celebrated pianist Matthew Shipp. A staple of ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad: Bop Stop

Read "Bop Stop" reviewed by Giuseppe Segala

by Giuseppe Segala
September 26, 2018

A cavallo tra gli anni Settanta e Ottanta, quando nella scena jazz norvegese la presenza dell'etichetta germanica Ecm stimolava e indirizzava le scelte di tanti musicisti, il sassofonista Frode Gjerstad si volgeva a un altro panorama, cercando il contatto con le odissee procellose dell'improvvisazione storica europea, volgendosi soprattutto all'area britannica. Qui collaborò con grandi maestri che fin dagli anni Sessanta avevano messo in fermento il mondo musicale del Vecchio Continente. Tra questi, il batterista John Stevens, che nel 1966 aveva ...

Album Review

Frode Gjerstad Trio + Steve Swell: Bop Stop

by John Sharpe
August 24, 2018

The bones of Norwegian saxophonist Frode Gjerstad's Trio go back a long way. He first co-opted drummer Paal Nilssen-Love into his Circulasione Totale Orchestra when he was still a teenager. Although bassist Jon Rune Strøm is a more recent recruit, he has still been on board since 2011. As such the consistently high quality interplay they generate should come as little surprise. The addition of trombonist Steve Swell to supplement the trio is a bonus, providing a foil for Gjerstad ...