Norwegian jazz at the Ottawa Jazz Festival

The Ottawa Jazz festival will be celebrating its 30th anniversary with a program consisting of Norwegian musicians. The festival dates back to 1980, when it was a weekend of outdoor jazz in major’s Hill Park. Since then the festival has evolved into one of the National Capital region’s most highly anticipated musical events of the summer.

Katzenjammer, the all-female quartet, has had an immense success in Norway and has just recently been released on the North American market. Solveig Heilo, Anne Marit Bergheim, Turid Jørgensen and Marianne Sveen are touring the US to promote their debut album Le Pop and will continue to do so until July 10. The tour includes a visit to Ottawa on Monday June 28 at 5:00 pm (NAC 4th Stage). With an impressive array of 29 instruments on which the ladies are self-taught the group is not surprisingly phenomenal on stage. Their music is energetic at least – and a real mix of different genres such as folk, country, balkan, gypsy and rock-pop. Those who are situated far west of Ottawa, in Vancouver, can go see Katzenjammer play together with Buck 65 on Friday June 25 at 9:30 pm.

Tord Gustavsen Ensemble is a well-known pianist from Norway. Earlier in his carrier he played in trio format, but what started as a temporary project in 2008 soon developed into how we today usually see Tord Gustavsen – playing with his Ensemble.  Their music is said to be nothing but ”music that sings, at once gentle and robust. Lyrical, immediately memorable songs...” The Tord Gustavsen Ensemble will be sharing their beautiful jazzy rhythms with you at the Ottawa Jazz Festival on July 2 at 9:00 (also at the NAC 4th Stage). Other opportunities to see them play in Canada is first at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival on June 30 and then at the Montréal International Jazz Festival on July 3.