my-server
← Wiki

Jon Balke

Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the group Siwan. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke.

Career

Balke started playing classical piano but switched to blues at 12, though he performs within several genres. At the age of 18 he joined Arild Andersen's quartet. By the mid-1980s he worked on his own and would become one of Norway's leading jazz composers. He was active in the groups of Radka Toneff and in the Afrofusion group E'olén before joining Oslo 13 and Masqualero in the early 1980s. From 1989 he focused on his own projects, such as JøKleBa (with Audun Kleive and Per Jørgensen) and the Magnetic North Orchestra for which he composed the commissioned work Il Cenoneat to Vossajazz 1992.

Balke formed the percussion group Batagraf in 2002, and created the concept work Siwan with singer Amina Alaoui in 2007. He is also the creator of a series of multimedia concerts at Vossajazz festival, labeled Ekstremjazz. The concerts involve various practitioners of extreme sports, such as parachuting, paragliding, hanggliding, and BMX biking. In 2012 he was artist in residence at Moldejazz. In 2016 he launched the solo piano concept Warp the use of live electronics accompanying the grand piano in live performances.

Awards and honors

  • 1984: Buddyprisen
  • 1993: Jazz Musician of the Year
  • 2000: Edvard Prize in popular music – major works, for the album Solarized
  • 2003: Oslo Bys kulturstipend
  • 2008: Gammleng-prisen in the class jazz
  • 2009* Jahrespreis der Deutschen Musikkritiker
  • 2012: Artist in Residence at Moldejazz

Discography

As leader

An asterisk (*) indicates year of release.

As co-leader

With Jøkleba

  • 1991: On and On (Odin)
  • 1993: JøKleBa! (Norsk Plateproduksjon)
  • 1996: JøKleBa Live (Curling Legs)
  • 2011: Nu Jøk? (EmArcy, Universal Music Norway)
  • 2014: Outland (ECM)
  • 2012: Magnetic Works 1993-2001 (ECM), compilation

With Batagraf

  • 2005: Statements (ECM)
  • 2011: Say and Play (ECM)
  • 2016: On Anodyne (Grappa)
  • 2018: Delights of Decay (Jazzland)

As sideman

With Radka Toneff

  • 1979: It Don't Come Easy (PolyGram)
  • 2008: Butterfly (Curling Legs), recorded 1976–77

With Masqualero

  • 1983: Masqualero (Odin)
  • 1985: Bande a Parte (ECM)

With Oslo 13

  • 1983: Anti-Therapy (Odin)
  • 1987: Off Balance (Odin)
  • 1992: Nonsentration (ECM)
  • 1994: Oslo 13 Live (Curling Legs)

With others

See also

References

External links