Bjørn Johansen (musician)

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Bjørn Johansen (born May 23, 1940 in Fredrikstad ; † May 6, 2002 in Oslo ) was a Norwegian saxophonist (tenor, soprano, baritone and alto saxophone) and modern jazz flutist .

Live and act

Bjørn Johansen played the clarinet in the school band and at the age of 16 became a member as a baritone saxophonist in Kjell Karlsen's orchestra (1956–58). He won the music competition of the Norwegian Jazz Society in 1957 and played in 1958 in the Verdensrevyen All Stars . Johnsen then played with the Sandsgaard / -Gustavsen Septet, Lars Sandsgaards Orchestra (1958-59), Pete Brown in 1959, and in the quintet of alto saxophonist Erik Andresen and again with Kjell Karlsen, with whom he appeared at the first jazz festival in Molde (1961) .

The music of John Coltrane became an important inspiration for his playing in the Arild Wikstrøms Quartet in 1961; In 1962 he appeared with Benny Bailey , Bernt Rosengren and Karin Krog at the Molde Festival; in the same year he received the Buddy Prize . From 1962 he also had his own quartet, in 1964 he worked with Karin Krog and in 1965 he played with the orchestra of George Gruntz in Zurich .

He then led an ensemble with Frode Thingnæs and Egil Kapstad in the 1960s and was a member of Thorleif Østereng's orchestra and his Østereng / -Hurum radio orchestra. In 1967 he worked on Kapstad's album "Syner". In 1967 and 1969 he performed at the Montreux Jazz Festival , both with his own sextet and with the sextet of Frode Thingnæs.

In the 1970s Johansen mostly worked with his quartet and in the Frode Thingnæs quintet; He also played in the formation of Bash in 1971, the EBU Big Band in 1973, with Harald Gundhus in 1974 and in the Per Husby septet from 1975-77. From 1978 to 1985 he led a quartet with Egil Kapstad, with whom he recorded the album “Friends” in 1980 and “Epilog” in 1984. He also performed with the Norsk Jazz-Sekstett in Molde in 1978 and was a member of the Nordic Be-Bop Society , with which he made a guest appearance in Molde in 1982.

From 1985 he worked again with his own quartet ("Dear Henrik", 1986), and in 1987 recorded the album "Take One" with the Cedar Walton Trio. This year he received the Spellemann Prize . In the 1990s he played with Ola Calmeyer and Bjørn Alterhaug, with whom the 1991 album "Superbop" was created. In 1992 he played with the Fatah Morgana Quartet in Molde; In 1997 he toured Norway with Sheila Jordan .

Bjørn Johansen was honored in 2001 for his life's work by the Oslo Jazz Circle with the publication of the scrapbook "Portrait of a Norwegian Jazz Artist".

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personal data
SURNAME Johansen, Bjørn
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Norwegian saxophonist (tenor, soprano, baritone and alto saxophone) and modern jazz flutist
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Fredrikstad
DATE OF DEATH May 6, 2002
Place of death Oslo