Norway has been blessed with some really good musicians and bands during the years. The jazz musicians Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen lead on in the 70’s, and several others have come after. One of my favorite musicians and artists is Knut Reiersrud, who has kept on with his music since the 70’s, establishing himself as one of the most fascinating and interesting contemporary artists, both in Norway and also abroad.

Last night Knut Reiersrud and his band played at Rockefeller in Oslo. He has just released a new album, Heat, and Knut and the band played four of the songs from the album plus songs from his many other solo and collaboration albums from his long career.

Bjørn Holm

David Wallumrød

Nicolai Hængsle Eilertsen and Andreas Bye

The band is worth mentioning, since they are also among our best and most sought after musicians: David Wallumrød on keyboards, Nicolai Hængsle Eilertsen on bass, Andreas Bye on drums and Bjørn Holm on guitar. Reiersrud and the band have played together some years now, and they follow and back each others through the songs with key and rhythm changes by just looking each other’s way.

Knut Reiersrud’s songs are often long and with a build up from very soft to quite hard before going down again, and at concerts one song segue seamlessly into the next, with changes in rhythm and key. Some of the songs are with vocals, others are instrumental, showing Reiersrud’s exquisite guitar playing. His songs are often gospel oriented, other times with obvious jazz references, plus he also mixes in elements from Arabic and other exciting music cultures.

The concert was well attended, but the venue was not packed. But everyone in the audience were very happy with the band and the music. I have seen Knut Reiersrud several times the last twenty years, and the concert last night was one of the best.

All photos are © Per Ole Hagen and must not be used without written permission.