Knut Riisnæs

Knut Riisnæs

Knut Riisnæs (born November 13, 1945 in Oslo ) is a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, flutist and composer.

Live and act

The son of the pianist Eline Nygaard and brother of the saxophonist Odd Riisnæs had piano lessons from the age of seven, later he switched to the saxophone. He made his first recordings in 1966 with Karin Krog , he also worked in the 1960s a. a. with Terje Bjørklund , Arild Wikstrøm , Frode Thingnæs , Ditlef Eckhoff , Egil Kapstad and Terje Rypdal .

Since the late 1960s he has been a soloist in several big bands, including the Helge Hurum orchestra , Fred Nøddelunds Store Orkester , Universitetets storband , Radiostorbandet (from 1971 to 1990), the Per Husby Dedication Orchestra and the Norwegian Big Band . He belonged to the sextet of Christian Reim (1968–1974), the quintet of Ditlef Eckhoff (1977–1983), the quartet of Arild Andersen (1974–1975), the septet of Per Husby (1975–1977), the quintet of Thorgeir Stubøs (1981–1982) and the bands of Jens Wendelboe (1983), Kjell Karlsen (1984) and Helge Hurum (1987).

Riisnæs led his own quartet from 1976 to 1979, from 1981 to 1985 and from 1992. In 1982, a year after he was honored with the Buddy Prize, his debut album was released as band leader Flukt , which won him the Spellemann Prize . In 1989 he recorded Confessin 'the Blue with Red Holloway ; In 1991/1992 the album Knut Riisnæs / Jon Christensen featuring John Scofield / Palle Danielsson was created , Touching followed in 2001 .

Riisnæs has performed at festivals all over Europe (including Paris, Warsaw and Baden-Baden), and in 2002 he and his quartet took part in the Jazz Yatra Festival in India. As a sideman he worked u. a. on recordings by Earl Wilson , Ketil Bjørnstad , Egil Johansen , Radka Toneff , Michael Smith , Laila Dalseth , Pål Thowsen , Kenneth Sivertsen , Bjørn Alterhaug , Jens Wendelboe , Jan Gunnar Hoff , Sigurd Ulveseth , and Helge Iberg .

Discographic notes

• Flukt ( Odin , 1982)
• Confessin 'the Blues with Red Holloway, Egil Johansen , Kjell Öhman , Terje Venaas , ( Gemini , 1989)
• Knut Riisnæs / Jon Christensen featuring John Scofield / Palle Danielsson ( Odin , 1991/92)
• The Gemini Twins with Red Holloway, 1992
• Touching with Dag Arnesen , Terje Gewelt , Frank Jakobsen , 2001

Web links

• Works by Knut Riisnæs in the catalog of the German National Library
• Knut Riisnæs in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Knut Riisnæs in the norske leksikon store
• Knut Riisnæs in the Norsk biografisk leksikon