Jon Larsen

JON LARSEN CV

1959 Born 7 January at Jar, near Oslo, Norway. At an early age attracted to drawing/painting and rockhunting in the mountains.

1972 Starts to play the guitar, but spends most time drawing and painting.

1976 First solo exhibition of paintings, inspired by Salvador Dal�-, followed by annual exhibitions for the next 20 years. First visit to Barcelona. First concerts with the trio Clo-Z, music inspired by Zappa, flamenco and jazz.

1977 One year of private studies of drawing with the Polish maestro Ryzard Warsinski.

1978 First visit to Paris. Moves to Barcelona to paint full time, spend one year with Catalan painters, but at the same time starts to study the music of Django Reinhardt.

1979 Forms Hot Club de Norvège together with two childhood friends Per Frydenlund (g/vocal) and Svein Aarbostad (b/poetry): Django music, traditional jazz, surrealistic poetry and happenings in small clubs and in the streets.

1980 Hot Club de Norvège records their first LP String Swing, and establishes the Djangofestival in Norway. Jon, Per and Svein study music with the Romanian pianist/arranger Christian Colan for one year, and meet gypsy guitarist Raphael Faÿs.

1981 First concerts at the Molde Jazz Festival. Meet the pioneer jazz guitarist Robert Normann, and start the work on reissuing his collected recordings, completed 1988.

1982 Hot Club Records established, presenting the new LP Old, New, Borrowed & Blue, with instant success. First concerts abroad at Pori Jazz, Finland, and Tanta til Beate with Lillebjørn Nilsen/HCdN win the Norwegian Grammy; Spellemannprisen.

1983 Participate on the jazz punk project Løver & Tigre and the CD Grrr… The Norwegian NRK TV produces short musical intermission films with HCdN, which are shown repeatedly on the single TV channel in Norway at the time. Concert with Al Casey (g).

1984 Participate on the 50th anniversary concert for Hot Club de France at Theatre Musical de Paris, together with Stéphane Grappelli, Didier Lockwood, etc. The new LP Gloomy is a breakthrough in France, and he meets Matelo Ferret, Boulou Ferré, etc.

1985 Start playing with Angelo Debarre (g) at La Roue Fleurie, in Paris.

1986 Swing de Paris becomes the first Norwegian jazz album on CD.

1987 TV appearances and touring in Norway. Concert with Howard Alden (g). Producing jazz CD’s for Chet Baker, Warne Marsh, the poet Jan Erik Vold, and others.

1988 The Vintage Guitar Series is launched, starting off with the reissue of the recordings of Robert Normann (g), Matelo Ferret (g), and Baro Ferret (g) on CD, and producing Angelo Debarre’s legendary debut CD Gypsy Guitars.

1989 Breakthrough for the Djangofestival in Norway with the debut CD presentation of Angelo Debarre (g). Touring with saxophonist Jon Gordon.

1990 Playing with Stochelo Rosenberg (g) and producing his first CD Seresta.

1991 Touring in the Baltic countries in the poetry crusade arranged by the poet Axel Jensen. Touring with Angelo Debarre. First solo CD: Superstrings.

1992 La Roue Fleurie • the first recording with Finn Hauge, featuring Angelo Debarre. First long tour in Japan, CD recording with Tokyo Hot Club Band.

1993 First recording with Jimmy Rosenberg (13), The Rosenberg Suite on the CD Swinging With Jimmy. The Composers Union (NOPA) awarded the music “the work of the year”. Concerts with Robin Nolan (g), Reinier Voet (g), and Romane (g).

1994 Record A Portrait Of Django in Paris, featuring many French musicians. Final concert with Stéphane Grappelli (released on CD) in Oslo, and touring in Finland. Concerts with Philip Catherine (g) at Oslo Jazzfestival. Marry Barbara Jahn, and meet guitar player Marcelo Matte in Barcelona. New solo CD: Guitaresque.

1995 Concerts and recording with the acclaimed Vertavo String Quartet, a complete new repertoire composed and arranged for the two quartets plus Ulf Wakenius (g). Nominated for the local Grammy. Breakthrough for Jon Larsen as a composer.

1996 Concerts with Tcha Limberger (g/voc), Babik Reinhardt (g) and Juanito (g). Daughter Stina born. Participate on Norwegian folk singer Øystein Sunde’s new CD.

1997 Extensive touring in Sweden. Concerts at the Django Festival in France, and in Buenos Aires, and meets Oscar Alemàn’s family in Argentina. Recording sessions in Paris with Babik Reinhardt (g), Romane (g), Jimmy Rosenberg (g) and John Jorgenson (g): Hot Shots.

1998 Recording and touring with Moreno and Angelo Debarre: the CD Moreno. Concerts with the Argentineans Riccardo Pellican (g) and Walter Malosetti (g), touring with Jimmy Rosenberg.

1999 Extensive touring in Sweden, Norway and the Netherlands with Jimmy Rosenberg, jazz cruice in the Caribbean, concert with Jesper Thielo (sax). Daughter Ingrid born.

2000 Concerts with René Maihles (g), Robin Nolan and Opus 4 in Oslo and Barcelona. First recording with Ola Kvernberg (vn), also featuring Jimmy Rosenberg, big success with the CD. Concerts with Andreas Petterson (g), Rodolphe Raffalli (g), etc.

2001 Recording the CD Angelo Is Back In Town featuring Angelo Debarre and Ola Kvernberg together.

2002 Compose White Night Stories, the world’s first symphonic gypsy jazz concert, which is presented on tour and recorded featuring Ola Kvernberg (vn) and Tromsø Symphony Orchestra. Concerts with Angelo Debarre (g), Romane (g) and Nigel Kennedy (vn).

2003 Concerts with Stian Carstensen (acc), and new recordings with Jimmy Rosenberg: Django’s Tiger. Compose a new concert for the Camelia String Quartet, which is presented on tour. First recordings with Andreas �-berg (g). Begin to study plants.

2004 Compose Hot Cats In Concert, which becomes Norway’s first jazz DVD, featuring the Camelia Quartet. Tours with Jimmy Rosenberg and Ola Kvernberg. Recording the CD A Stranger In Town featuring Bjørn Vidar Solli on guitar and vocal. New solo CD/concerts: The Next Step, trio with Egil Kapstad (pno) and Hilde Hefte (voc).

2005 World première on the Django Symphony featuring Stochelo Rosenberg (g) and Florin Nicolescu (vn). Recordings of new compositions with Biel Ballester (g), Camelia String Quartet. Samois-sur-Seine festival with Noé Reinhardt, Andreas �-berg, a.o.

2006 Commission from the Django festival in Norway: a new concert for Hot Club + string quartet; Musique Noir. Booking requests for Europe, Russia, USA and Japan. Storm Film produces documentary film about Jimmy Rosenberg and Jon Larsen.

2007 Commision: music for children’s TV; Luna, plus new music inspired by Frank Zappa.

Photos for the press, more info, etc: www.hotclub.no Show less