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Espen Berg
Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg (b. 1983) is a modern day impressionist, seamlessly blending figurative and non-figurative styles in his spontaneously composed music, with an unsurpassed virtuosity and flow. His solo albums have been praised by audience and critics all over the world, earning top ratings in All About Jazz, UK Vibe, VG and Nettavisen, and an Editor’s Choice remark in Jazzwise, with Stuart Nicholson writing that «if the solo piano concert lost its main storyteller in recent times, then there is a voice in Norway that offers a different, but equally compelling narrative».
Espen has been touring around the world since 2003 and released 15 albums as a leader. His trio, Espen Berg Trio, is frequently visiting Asia, and has sold out concert halls in Tokyo, Kyoto, Guangzhou, Mumbai and Athens, in addition to famous clubs like Ronnie Scott’s in London. Espen Berg Trio’s third album was listed as one of the best albums of 2019 in Downbeat (US), and the trio has been named «one of the best trios in existence today» by Jazz Journal (UK).
Espen was appointed to official Steinway Artist in 2023 and was awarded Norway’s largest jazz grant in 2016. He has written commissioned works for Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and for many leading Norwegian jazz festivals, such as Molde Jazz Festival, Jazzfest in Trondheim and Oslo Jazz Festival. He has collaborated with artists such as the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Seamus Blake, Silje Nergaard, Mathias Eick, Hildegunn Øiseth, Marius Neset and Daniel Herskedal.
Awards
2023: Appointed to official Steinway Artist by Steinway & Sons.
2016: JazZtipendiatet, Norway's largest music scholarship
2016: Espen Berg Trio appointed to official NTNU Ambassador
2013: Semi-finalist in Montreux Solo Piano competition
2012: Semi-finalist in Montreux Solo Piano competition
2007: Best soloist, Hoeilaart Int'l Jazz Contest
2004: First prize, Hoeilaart Int'l Jazz Contest with the trio Listen
Gear
Steinway V-125 from 2015
Tags
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Espen Berg: Maetrix
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingEspen Berg: Water Fabric
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingAnders Lønne Grønseth & Multiverse: Inner View
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingEspen Berg: The Trondheim Concert
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingEspen Berg Trio: Free To Play
by Chris May
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 ...
Continue ReadingKeith Jarrett & Vince Guaraldi
by Joe Dimino
During the penultimate episode of Neon Jazz during 2020, we continue to honor the voices of modern jazz. We start things off with a talented musician from Norway in Espen Berg. We also hear from Doug Carn of the 2020 Jazz is Dead series. We profile the busy and talented Kansas City saxophonist Rich Wheeler and wrap up the 680th Episode with Vince Guaraldi as the musical voice of the holiday season. Playlist Espen Berg Trio “Meanwhile in ...
Continue ReadingEspen Berg Trio: Bølge
by Gareth Thompson
The highest wave ever measured by a fixed installation hit a Norwegian gas transporter in the North Sea. The wave was marked at 25.6 metres high. Award-winning pianist Espen Berg would probably approve such statistics, having named his trio's second album Bølge--the Norwegian name for wave. Berg is also keen to point out the many levels that 'wave' can be perceived from, including the mathematical. None of which should imply that Bølge needs logical analysis. But it is ...
Continue ReadingEspen Berg: The Trondheim Concert - A Fully Improvised Piano Concert And Live Recording
Source:
Vivo Musique Internationale
Five years after releasing his second solo album, Acres of Blue, Espen Berg decided to present a fully improvised piano concert in a live recording. This one-taker is a culmination of years of development, reflection and research. The music, created in the moment, reflects his emotions in a profound way, and every time he plays, it’s different. Every second of music is unique, and it feels like an endless resource, both musically and spiritually. The Trondheim Concert was recorded at ...
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New Album by Norwegian Jazz Trio Listen
Source:
Michael Ricci
The Norwegian trio Listen has won several international awards and toured in great parts of Europe, as well as Syria and Cuba. Their debut album received great reviews and a lot of media attention when released in 2007. The Norwegian National Broadcast described Listen as “a rarely interactional ensemble--regardless of genre", and the renowned reviewer Roald Helgheim called the record “a feast". II is Listen's second album, and their first pure trio album without guest musicians. It consists of original ...
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"In the context of the spontaneously conceived, freely improvised solo piano recital, Berg gives evidence of artistic growth as he moves ever closer to achieving the kind of mastery in the idiom that many aspire to, but few achieve. Where this fascinating odyssey ends up will be interesting to see." - Stuart Nicholson on The Hamar Concert (2023, 4/5 stars)
"Norway’s Espen Berg - whose limpid lyricism seems reminiscent of Jarrett in his prime - usually leads a trio, but with The Trondheim Concert is captured alone on stage. The results are spectacular and show that he, too, can conjure memorable improvised piano music from the ether." - Charles Waring, Record Collector (4/5 stars)
Primary Instrument
Piano
Location
Trondheim
Willing to teach
Advanced only
Credentials/Background
Associate professor at University of Science and Technology in Trondheim since 2006.
Machado Mijiga
drums
