Hayden Powell

Hayden Powell (1983)

Hayden Powell is a trumpet player who specialises in jazz and other types of music where improvisation is involved. Based in Oslo, Norway, Powell has worked extensively as a freelancer and a band leader, as well as writing and arranging. He also holds a part-timeteaching position at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Powell started playing trumpet at home with his parents who are both classically trained musicians. As a child, he frequently played in church together with his father, a church organist and later with a traditional jazz band, earning him experience in performing, reading music and playing by ear. Hayden grew up in and around the town of Molde,

Norway, whose jazz festival provided an early introduction to the genre and plenty of playing opportunities. He went on to study music at NTNU in Trondheim, where he earned a bachelor's degree in performing jazz in 2006, before taking his master's degree in 2011 at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Early on in his career, Powell frequently played appeared with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, as well as his own trio and other groups such as the brass quartet Magic Pocket. He quickly became a well-known figure on the Norwegian jazz scene, appearing at clubs and festivals throughout the country as part of a trio with pianist Eyolf Dale and bassist Jo Skaansar. The trio released four albums between 2011 and 2018, some of which included guests such as saxophonist Tore Brunborg. Their last album, Six Commissions (2018), featured compositions by six different composers, alongside purely improvised sections. The double album Circadian Rhythm and Blues (2015) features the trio on one disc, and pieces for solo trumpet on the other.

Alongside and following his work with the trio, Powell became increasingly involved in other musician's projects. Amongst the highlights are two albums with Eyolf Dale's Wolf Valley (Edition), «Ante Lucem, a suite for jazz quintet and symphony orchestra by Finnish pianist/harpist/composer Iro Haarla, released on ECM, and extensive touring in France and other European countries as part of Natacha Atlas' group. Hayden also contributed to three albums by Norwegian pianist and vocalist Solfrid Molland for Kirkelig Kulturverksted (the first of which included a collaboration with musicians from the Romanian group Taraf de Haïdouks), two albums with the group Bridges, alongside Canadian saxophonist Seamus Blake, and several featuring the group Multiverse, led by Norwegian saxophonist Anders Lønne Grønseth. His most recent collaborations include several projects led byNorwegian pianist Espen Berg. Powell continues to work in a broad field of musical genres, often in the intersection of jazz, improvisation folk and art music, and will be performing a number on concerts with a new sextet in 2025, following the November 2024 release of his album Undergrowth.

In addition to his performance activities, Powell has been involved in teaching, working with children and adults of all ages and abilities. Hayden has been a university lecturer at the Norwegian Academy of Music since 2015, teaching subjects such as trumpet, arranging, ear training and ensemble. He has also worked as a composer and arranger, and has written scores for big bands, wind bands and smaller groups as well as string and horn arrangements. One example of this work can be heard on the album The Architect (Jens Carelius, 2011), where he also plays trumpet.

Gear

1946 Super Olds Holton Firebird trumpet