Frode Gjerstad Quartet / Pan-Scan Ensemble

Celebrating a true freejazz pioneer.

Maijazz celebrate Frode Gjerstad – Frode is turning 70 this year.

Here is a message from Frode :

We love not to know what the music will be like when we start playing. We like to improvise. Not to compose or set up ideas, but to start fresh and not know what the outcome will be.

We have had this trio for 20 years and from the very beginning, the idea was not to know, but to do. To work our way through all kinds of madness and find some common ground and then see the light! This is what we do.

best Frode

There are not many musicians who deserve to be referred to as a true pioneer, but Frode Gjerstad is one of them. Frode Gjerstad has been a mentor to many a young improvisation talent. In 1985 he started the Circulasione Total Orchestra. This was band with changing members of young musicians, mostly from Stavanger. International cooperation includes artists like Peter Brötzman, Evan Parker and Hamid Drake. The longest lasting project in recent years is the Frode Gjerstad Trio. Besides Frode the trio is drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and bassist Jon Rune Strøm. Frode Gjerstad has received the Norwegian Jazzforum Buddy Prize and the Stavanger Municipality Culture Prize. At Maijazz Frode adds bassist Øyvind Storesund (Cloroform) to his trio.

Frode Gjerstad saxophones, Paal Nilssen-Love drums, Jon Rune Strøm bass and Øyvind Storesund bass

Spor 5 , Friday 04th May at 19:30

Pan-Scan Ensemble- Pinpointed spectrum of Scandinavian improvised music today

Pan-Scan Ensemble is a new group assembled by Paal Nilssen-Love and Ståle Liavik Solberg originally for a 2016 Blow Out performance in Oslo. Thankfully, the group’s performance has been captured and released on an album -This is a superb example of free improvisation. Nilssen-Love’s creativity and talent has been well-documented. For Pan-Scan Ensemble, he and Solberg has brought together an improvising supergroup : Lotte Anker, Anna Högberg, Julie Kjær, Thomas Johansson, Didrik Ingvaldsen, Emil Strandberg, and Sten Sandell. Judging from videos and the overall vibe of the album, the result is a kind of “wall of sound». Free jazz enthusiasts have a great evening to loo forward to.

Lotte Anker – soprano, alto/tenor saxophon, Anna Högberg – alto saxophon , Julie Kjær – alto saxophone, flute-Thomas Johansson – trumpet, Didrik Ingvaldsen – trumpet, Emil Strandberg – trompet, Sten Sandell – piano, Paal Nilssen-Love – drums /percussion ,Ståle Liavik Solberg – drums/percussion

Spor 5 , Friday 04th May at 22:00