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Espen Eriksen Trio

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The jazz world is not short on piano trios, but it´s not every day that one comes across a new trio with a personal musical language. Espen Eriksen Trio plays highly melodical and lyrical instrumentals with elements from Scandinavian folk and melancholia and shades of the deep woods.

It´s definitely jazz, but their less is more approach is in contrast to most of their contemporaries, with structures almost like pop songs and with a strong focus on melodies and short solos. It´s fair to place them in a tradition with Tord Gustavsen Trio and the late Esbjörn Svensson Trio, but without really sounding like any of them.

Espen Eriksen Trio: Winter Is Coming

by Carl Medsker
September 25, 2026

An homage to Game of Thrones? A wish for the end of another excessively hot summer? Or just impatient for better ski conditions? Whatever the intention, the Espen Eriksen trio is back for another set of melodic Nordic jazz. After a pulsing, ominous start, the performance flowers into a memorable theme. The bandmates (Espen Eriksen on piano, Lars Tormod Jenset on bass and Andreas Bye on drums) breathe as one, favoring economical, lyrical invention over hearty rhythmic or harmonic improv. ...

Album Review

Espen Eriksen Trio: End Of Summer

Read "End Of Summer" reviewed by Gareth Thompson

by Gareth Thompson
September 17, 2020

Any album recorded during the lockdown of 2020 will doubtless be scrutinised for cryptic references. As such, End Of Summer as a title might hint at something deeper (or darker) than mere seasonal flux. But amidst so much global turmoil, the Espen Eriksen Trio has held its nerve and created another poignant opus. Tranquility at the centre of chaos. As a Nordic pianist with a keen awareness of folk ballads and lullabies, Eriksen brings an innocent guile to ...

Album Review

Espen Eriksen Trio: What Took You So Long

Read "What Took You So Long" reviewed by John Kelman

by John Kelman
May 18, 2012

When Rune Grammofon first introduced In the Country with This Was the Pace of My Heartbeat, it touted the young Norwegian trio's 2005 debut as the label's first “jazz record." This is true, perhaps, using a broader definition that may rankle dogmatists more aligned with the American tradition; but over the course of the next seven years, In the Country distanced itself further, adopting a stronger predilection for song form. Rune's 2010 debut by the fledgling Espen Eriksen Trio, You ...