Jonas H. Sjøvaag is a drummer, composer and artist, currently employed as a PhD fellow at University of Agder.
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He also runs Weblance.no and supremeconnection.no

As a musician Sjøvaag is part of the Norwegian contemporary jazz outfit Eple Trio, composing and playing the drums. He also plays with Karl Seglem's Acoustic Quartet, and in different constellations. Other projects include the almost mythical Navyelectre, and the soothing electronic sounds of mattisogjonas

Buy the albums from Jonas H. Sjøvaag here

As a visual artist, Sjøvaag is represented internationally by Saatchi Art. His artworks are often graphical rearrangements of classical figurative compositions, using various digital techniques to achieve his goal. They are also often quite large, and printed on glass, aluminium or wood.

In music, Sjøvaag is a drummer and composer for various bands, touring Asia and Europe regularly, focusing mainly on traditional and jazz music, fused into each other trying to create new sounds on familiar structures.

‘Sunday Songs’ is the newest vocal album from Jonas Sjøvaag and features a series of songs based on lyrics written in Florence. Under a scorching sun, on a rooftop in the eastern part of town, they came to be in the spring of 2019. The compositions were then written during the autumn, and the album is Sjøvaag’s 13th release under his own name. ‘Sunday Songs’ was inspired by some of the great performers of piano-driven pop, Billy Joel, Randy Newman and Randy Goodrum comes to mind, but it was also shaped by Sjøvaag’s background as a jazz musician. Andreas Ulvo plays piano throughout, and the album features guest performances from notable artists Hilde Marie Kjersem (vocals), André Roligheten (sax), Sarah-Jane Summers (fiddle), Mathias Eick (trumpet) and Sigurd Hole (double bass). ‘Sunday Songs’ is a melodic, heartfelt and beautiful album, with a timeless nerve and lyrics with a melancholy tinge.

L I S T E N H E R E: https://orcd.co/2dojjv6

«Turmusikk» (English: «Walking music»)
SHPWRK025 | Modern jazz / improv / classical

The album “Turmusikk” by Norwegian composer and drummer Jonas Sjøvaag follows “Commuter Music” released in January 2020. Where “Commuter Music” was securely lodged in the ambient tradition and in many ways exhibited a close sonic connection to Brian Eno’s “Music for Airports” “Turmusikk” is one step closer to Sjøvaag’s background as a jazz musician and as a composer for ensem
bles featuring a piano.
The album relates to the Scandinavian jazz tradition, both in terms of sound and improvisational style, and in terms of pushing the boundaries and exploring new territory.
It partly employs a traditional jazz instrumentation while in other parts it relies on evolving soundscapes that provide an underlay for improvisation that draws heavily on Sjøvaag’s background as a classical pianist. There’s a short impromptu for solo piano, and in yet another part, strings from a future recording by Sjøvaag has been re-used, improvised on top of, and sonically processed. It results in a track that has a modern and sentimental quality at the same time, and as such is finishes the album by highlighting the running theme of the album itself.
Sjøvaag plays all instruments on this album, with the exception of strings played by Scottish fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers.

Track list:
1: Overgang fra natt til morgen på Revlitjern (Transitioning from night till dawn at Revlitjern)
2: Impromptu for øyenstikkere (Impromptu for Dragonflies)
3: Bjørnsjøen Indian Summer (Bjørnsjøen Indian Summer)
4: Utsikt fra hogstfeltet ved Evenseterbekken (View from the felling site at Evenseterbekken)
5: Musikk til en historie vi delvis husker (Music for a story we partly remember)

Credits:
Jonas Sjøvaag: composer and musician (piano, acoustic guitar, drums, synthesizers, drum machines, programming)
Sarah-Jane Summers: violin
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Færder Audio
Front cover painting by Jonas Sjøvaag
Artwork by Supremeconnection.no

Ghosts

15/10 | 2020

I S E E G R I E F:

I see grief, and I feel sorrow
Every day, every tomorrow
Let's see how it goes, as we move through the shadows
and talk in verse, more than prose
Let's see how it goes
Let's see how it goes

For themselves, at all of our mercy
It's all blurred, and it's all dirty
All of their words, from illiterate mouths, they
Lie through their teeth, cheat and oppose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows

If you believe
that tomorrow will never come
If you believe
That tomorrow will never come
It will never come
Never come
Never come

I S E E G R I E F:

I see grief, and I feel sorrow
Every day, every tomorrow
Let's see how it goes, as we move through the shadows
and talk in verse, more than prose
Let's see how it goes
Let's see how it goes

For themselves, at all of our mercy
It's all blurred, and it's all dirty
All of their words, from illiterate mouths, they
Lie through their teeth, cheat and oppose
Everybody knows
Everybody knows

If you believe
that tomorrow will never come
If you believe
That tomorrow will never come
It will never come
Never come
Never come

An improvised meeting between musicians that have know each other for years, can be either boring, bland or magical. In this case, the latter might suffice, but only when adding 'inspiring' to the description.

Sjøvaag, Seglem and Hole usually appear next to each other in Karl Seglem's Acoustic Quartet, a group that have been working since 2007. Hole and Sjøvaag are also two thirds of the cult trio Eple Trio, the third member being pianist Andreas Ulvo, and adds four more years to the collaboration.

On this record, the musicians different capabilities and skills, honed through years of practice, are properly displayed through a live session recorded at Kulturhuset, Oslo, during a concert in the series 'Det Mørke Rommet', the concert also featured live visuals by Jonas Magnussen.

As is typical with these musicians, the main focus is interplay, letting each voice be heard, always holding back; waiting, listening, leaving the center stage open until the time is right to take on the leading role. In this way, the music flows and ebbs, the focus shifts back and forth, and the journey is an exploratory one where the ancient sound of goat horns kickstarts folk-inspired stretches of overtonal improvisation by Hole.

The album reaches it's jazz apex on the track 'Wayfarer.' Here, drums and bass lead the way with a compact and impressively abstract beat, before the tenor sax enters and makes for a classic free jazz listen, where remnants of the musicians previous afflictions with Coleman, Coltrane et. al. are clearly heard.

West Wind Drift is an album where the musicians, usually occupied with Nordic inspirations, lets their vision drift sideways for a moment, acknowledging the ever-present American heartbeat in the jazz genre, and fusing it with Scandinavian impulses. It makes for an album that sucks you in and keeps you there by the power of abstract melodies, deconstructed rhythm and ancient chants, and one that brightly shines on the vibrant Norwegian jazz scene.

Dette albumet er Jonas Sjøvaags første norske fullengder og er en ambisiøs reise gjennom ulike tilstander, hverdagslige og introverte, utadvendte, flate og håpefulle. Tekstene presenteres over komposisjoner som er vevd sammen av en rekke forskjellige inspirasjonskilder, noe som er helt naturlig fra en musiker og komponist med en såpass variert bakgrunn som tilfellet er her.

Sjøvaag er ellers slagverker og komponist, kjent for sitt samarbeid med Karl Seglem, i trioen Eple Trio, med Andreas Ulvo og Sigurd Hole, og har hatt popen som hobbyvirksomhet siden 2003, primært gjennom arbeid med ensemblet Navyelectre.

'Skyer over byen' består av 8 spor, alle med tekst, komposisjoner, arr og mix av Jonas Sjøvaag.

Albumet sorterer tidvis under norske viser, noen ganger under spoken word, men hovedsakelig under sekkebegreper som “alternativ”, “indie” og kanskje også “rock”. Uansett hva det er kan man i hvert fall si at tekstene har fått god plass, og at disse i stor grad har fått forme lydbildet og uttrykket.
Tematisk er dette relativt korte betraktninger og tanker fra en by, som sammen danner et større bilde. De kan tolkes som en livets reise fra start til slutt, og på den måten betraktes i lys av store eksistensielle spørsmål, eller de kan ses på som abrupte tekster som hver for seg er en betraktning av en av hverdagens trivialiteter.

5

11/08 | 2017

The Norwegian trio Eple Trio will release their fifth album on September 1st 2017, and after thirteen years of existence, the trio is still one of the most genre-defying and original groups on the Scandinavian jazz scene.
With Andreas Ulvo on the piano, Sigurd Hole on bass and Jonas Sjøvaag on drums, the band is otherwise well connected and frequently plays, individually or collectively, with many other remarkable Norwegian musicians such as Karl Seglem, Jon Eberson, Tord Gustavsen, Mathias Eick and many more.

Eple Trio have expanded and challenged the perception of modern Scandinavian jazz for many years, and through their four prior releases they have consistently brought on a new take on the genre, either based on unusual impulses and compositional methods, or by experimenting with form and improvisational structures, all while keeping tension between melody and a rhythmic undertow.

On this latest record, classical music and its mode of presentation have been given special attention. Hear it on the track ‘Curious Child’, a composition by Sjøvaag, inspired by Schumann’s ‘Kinderszenen’ and also a direct link to Sjøvaags past as a classical pianist, where the phrases are timed according to length and narrative quality rather than more traditional approach of periods and standard form, thus resulting in a piece where the musicians are working both with and against each other, and where dynamics are played with utmost precision. For the opposite, listen to ‘Close your eyes’ by Ulvo. A piece where Sjøvaag & Hole creates a staccato rhythmic bedrock upon which Ulvo can show off his unique improvisational skills and the group builds the arrangement to a structure reminiscent of Arvo Pärt played by Jarrett / Garbarek / Danielsson / Christensen.

Artwork and coverdesign by Sjøvaag, recording and mix by Roar Nilsen and Eple Trio. Mastering by Sjøvaag / Fridtjof Lindeman.

Tombak + live processing project. Intro video.

Whenever people talk or write about Jazz music it never takes very long until someone mentions the „magic“ between the musicians. If you never really understood what it meant but were afraid to ask, let Karl Seglem explain. For almost a decade the Norwegian saxophonist with a fable for all types of goat horns has been playing together with the Acoustic Quartet, three younger musicians. Together they translate into music the true meaning of „magic“ in Jazz: discipline and freedom, trust and risk, feeling and energy.
Plus: a lot of fun.

Following „Norskjazz.no“ (2009) und „NyeSongar.no“ (2012) the new album „Nordic Balm“ is the third studio album of this formation with Karl Seglem, pianist Andreas Ulvo, bass player Sigurd Hole and Jonas Howden Sjøvaag on drums. Thanks to constant touring since 2008 the four are more than well-rehearsed, they form a unity – a real band. This process in itself is important to Karl Seglem, he describes the three albums as a trilogy and regards „Nordic Balm“ as the strongest and most important so far. But of course that is also due to the fact that „the most recent album is always the most important“.

All the elements that made Karl Seglem’s music so popular and successful come together on „Nordic Balm“: strong roots in Skandinavian Folk and World Music, a perfect balance of composition and improvisation, extremely skilled musicians and excellent sound quality. Yet there is also a pure joy of playing that urges through the cracks of this foundation and sometimes takes control over the band, for example on the manic goat horn heavy „Fjordskimmr“. From more measured songs like „Lys i glaset“ to up-tempo tracks like „Eidblome“ and the groove based „Ned Dalen“, that came to Karl Seglem on a hike in the Norwegian mountains, this sheer lust of playing carries the album and pushes it forward. Even „Balsam“, a song for Karl Seglems brother who is fighting cancer, never turns into a lament but instead celebrates his positive energy and will to live.

„We just make sounds and happen to sound like no other Jazz band in the world.“ Karl Seglem hits the nail on the head. Though it doesn’t usually make you that happy listening to other people „making sounds“.

Singel nummer to fra et album med planlagt slipp høsten 2016.
Release på Tidal osv. den 20 juni.
Tilgjengelig på bandcamp nå: http://jonassjovaag.bandcamp.com/track/n-rmere-enn-n

Tekst:
Jeg husker livet slik det var før
Slik det sakte glei forbi
Vi var bølger, som brøyt mot ei strand
Gang på gang

Nå går praten på tomgang
Alle orda er brukt
Men her og nå skal jeg rette det opp
Jeg byr deg opp til dans
Vi danser uten stans, og vi

ref
Har aldri vært nærmere enn nå
Vi får ikke tiden tilbake
Jeg holder deg tett inntil
Og veit akkurat hva du vil
Det er slik vi lever nå
Med følelsene utenpå

Først dager, og så uker
Måneder og år
Du kom inn, og jeg gikk ut
Og jeg tok med meg lukten av deg

La oss bryte alle regler
La meg skru deg på
Så tar vi tak i den tida vi har
Og jeg byr deg opp til dans
Vi danser uten stans, for vi

ref
Har aldri vært nærmere enn nå
Vi får ikke tiden tilbake
Jeg holder deg tett inntil
Og veit akkurat hva du vil
Det er slik vi lever nå
Med følelsene utenpå

Bridge
Har aldri vært nærmere enn nå

Jeg holder deg tett inntil
Og veit akkurat hva du vil

Siste ref
Har aldri vært nærmere enn nå
Vi får ikke tiden tilbake
Jeg holder deg tett inntil
Og veit akkurat hva du vil
Det er slik vi lever nå
Med følelsene utenpå

Paintings

04/04 | 2016

This one is 'Parkblomster (Park Flowers)
More paintings here: http://www.saatchiart.com/account/collection/163738

Dette er Jonas Sjøvaags debut som visesanger med sangen ”To planeter i samme bane”, og han står frem som en artist forankret i den norske visetradisjonen anført av Lillebjørn Nilsen, Jan Eggum, Bjørn Eidsvåg og Odd Nordstoga. Med et billedrikt tekstmateriale som henvender seg til et voksent publikum, tar Sjøvaag visesangen tilbake til Østlandet og synger om et hverdagsliv de fleste kan kjenne seg i igjen i. Det er en sang om der glasset er halvfullt snarere enn halvtomt, der det viktigste er menneskene rundt oss, og om en hverdag som blir avbrutt av plutselige innfall.

Jonas Howden Sjøvaag, kjent som komponist og slagverker i Eple Trio, en av norges mest interessante pianotrioer, har brukt 2015 godt. Den stillfarne utgivelsen av mesterverket Navyelectre Large Ensemble markerte starten på året, ble fulgt av innspilling og utgivelse av albumet ’Ancient Land, New Territory’ med bass-maestro Arild Andersen, og ledet frem til innspilling av denne første singelen i et nytt, norsk viseprosjekt.

2016 starter dermed passede nok med et dansbart 16-beat som drar oss inn i en hverdagsfortelling der det viktigste er menneskene rundt oss, og dagliglivet, med stemninger som er gjenkjennelige for de fleste, har fått hovedprioritet.

Sjøvaag har tidligere vært aktiv i Navyelectre, et orkester med variert besetning som opp gjennom årene har høstet lovord i inn- og utenlandsk presse for både live-opptredener og utgitte album. Han er også mannen bak flere andre ensembler som spenner fra jazz, til elektronisk pop, via improvisasjonsmusikk til avant-garde tradisjonsmusikk, og nå til slutt er han altså debutant, på norsk, med låta ’To planeter i samme bane’.

For mer informasjon om Sjøvaag, andre prosjekter osv, gå til www.jonassjovaag.no

My newest record, with bass player Arild Andersen, releases one week ahead of the others on Tidal HiFi today.
Have a listen at http://listen.tidal.com/album/53226201

New record to be released on November 23rd, with pre-streaming available through Tidal.com from November 16th.

Catalog number: SHPWRK011
Release date: November 23rd 2015
With: Jonas H. Sjøvaag / percussion & Arild Andersen / bass & electronics

This duo is a meeting between two improvisers and jazz musicians working together to create improvised stretches where Arilds extensive knowledge and experience meets Sjøvaag’s rhythmic musicality. With a percussion setup based on hand drums from the Middle East, tensions between, and auditory images across, genres and cultures are created when the sound of these drums meet Arild’s unique expression that stems from his background in Norwegian folk and jazz music. While some passages are based on composed melodies and other flows freely from a common starting point, the focus is on gentle interaction between two musicians, each with their own strong, personal voice.

Sjøvaag’s output has for many years been presented through ensemble Eple Trio, in Karl Seglem’s Acoustic Quartet and in various other ensembles, where he appears as a composer, arranger and drummer/percussionist. In this context, he takes one step to the side and presents a project where the inspirations are diverse, the soundscape is an extension and retrospective of the rich Norwegian music history where tradition meets improvisation.

At the same time the project itself is unique, new and exploratory; hence the title: Ancient Land, New Territory.

Karl Seglem feirer 30 år som musiker med jubileumsutgivelse

Karl Seglem er en banebrytende og stadig søkende musiker og komponist. Musikken han gir ut i forbindelse med feiringen av 30 år som frilansmusiker i denne boksen finnes det ikke maken til. Med fasinasjonen for den enestående hardingfelemusikken og klangen av bukkehorn begynte Karl Seglem for over 20 år siden å koble klangen av disse instrumentet opp mot en elektrisk og elektronisk verden der det også er mye plass til improvisasjon. 

Jubileumsboksen JazzBukkBox er egenartet og sterk kost! I denne boksen finner man personlige og grensesprengende improvisasjoner fra flere av de fremste folk- og jazzmusikerne i landet. Det er jazz, det er world, det er folk, og til tider ganske rocka.

På albumet Lærad har Karl Seglem utfordret og samarbeidet med stjernelag av norske musikere og leverer et variert og komplekst album som spenner vidt. Med utgangspunkt i Seglems klangbehandling av ulike bukkehorn og hans bukkehornspill, er de sammen skapt ei rikt album der bukkehornet framstår på helt nye måter.

WorldJazz er et elektrisk og energisk album. Tette og sterke melodiske linjer, riff og sprutende beats. Personlige og forløsende improvisasjoner fra flere av de fremste folk- og jazzmusikerne i landet er samlet på dette albumet. Med ulike besetninger med ei gjennom-gående nerve i samspill og formidling. Musikken er sjangeroverskridende i ordets beste forstand.
Og siste albumet Live in Germany servere melodiøs norsk jazz fylt til randen av energi hentet fra liveopptak fra Karl Seglems Tysklandturné høsten 2013.
Albumet teller 9. komposisjoner der nytt materiale glir sømløst sammen med stoff fra de to tidligere og svært kritikerroste utgivelsene. Dette er kammerjazz. Skjørt og kraftfullt på samme tid, og i umiskjennelig Seglemsk atmosfære. Kvartetten leverer et unikt lydbilde i tråd med nordisk jazzspråk. Et språk Seglem selv står i bresjen for å utvikla videre.

MEDVIRKENDE PÅ ALBUMENE:

• Karl Seglem (LÆRAD -The tree /// Live in Germany /// WorldJazz)
• Andreas Ulvo (LÆRAD -The tree /// Live in Germany /// WorldJazz)
• Jonas Howden Sjøvaag (LÆRAD -The tree /// Live in Germany)
• Lars Jakob Rudjord (LÆRAD -The tree /// WorldJazz)
• Mari Kvien Brunvoll (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Øyvind Mathisen (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Erik Honore (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Reidar Skår (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Elin Rosseland (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Hans Hulbækmo (LÆRAD -The tree)
• Håkon Høgemo (WorldJazz)
• Gjermund Silset (WorldJazz)
• Olav Torget (WorldJazz)
• Helge Norbakken (WorldJazz)
• Kenneth Ekornes (WorldJazz)
• Erland Dahlen (WorldJazz)
• Kåre Opheim (WorldJazz)
• Sigrid Moldestad (WorldJazz)
• Stefan Bergman (WorldJazz)
• Georg Buljo (WorldJazz)

"De fleste musiker skapar något sätt sin egna värld, genom sitt uttryck. Men inte så många har en verkligt unik musikalisk röst og värld. Norske låtmakaren, saxofonisten og gethornsspelaren med mera Karl Seglem tilhör definitivt kategorin med en helt unik musikalisk värld" melder det prestisjetunge svenske magasinet Lira om Karl Seglems JazzBukkBox

1

07/05 | 2015

Shipwreckords.no
Wimp
Spotify
Klicktrack
iTunes

Jonas H. Sjøvaag’s debut som albumartist ble utgitt første gang i 2003 på labelet Chewinpine. At utgivelsen har fått nytt katalognummer og label skyldes at den ikke tidligere har vært tilgjengelig i fysisk format, og heller ikke har hatt profesjonell distribusjon. Det har således ikke vært søkt om støtte til denne utgivelsen tidligere.

Hele denne platen er laget av Jonas H. Sjøvaag, fra komposisjon og tekst, innspilling og traktering av et utall instrumenter, arrangering, produksjon, mix og cover. Platen fikk god mottagelse i pressen, noen sitater følger her:

”Navyelectre er ikke for alle, men for mange” – 5/7 Groove.no

“Tom Waits' fetter på en god syretripp” – 5/6, Dagbladet

“Skjev musikalsk kløkt” – panorama.no

Watch the Navyelectre Large Ensemble promo video HERE

Jonas Howden Sjøvaag’s Navyelectre – Large Ensemble
Arrangert av Jan Martin Smørdal

Med: Jonas H. Sjøvaag (vokal), Mathias Eick (trompet), Ole Jørn Myklebust
(trompet), Jørgen Munkeby (klarinett), Morten Barrikmo (bassklarinett), Anders Grønseth (klarinett), Christian Magnusson (klarinett), Erik Johannessen (trombone), Martin Taxt (tuba), Inga Byrkjeland (cello), Yngvil Bjellaanes (cello), Andreas Ulvo (piano), Magne Vestrum (bass), Pål Hausken (trommer) og Audun Borrmann (gitar)

Komposisjoner og tekst: Jonas H. Sjøvaag
Lydteknikere: Audun Borrmann & Even Ormestad
Mastering: Ingar Hunskaar og Fridtjof A. Lindeman / Strype Audio
Coverdesign: Jonas H. Sjøvaag
Coverbilder: Andreas Frøland
Format: Vinyl / digitale kanaler

Kontakt: Jonas Howden Sjøvaag for intervjuavtaler eller spørsmål.
Telefon: 928 42 902
Epost: jonassjovaag@gmail.com

I utgangspunktet skal det ikke være mulig å spille inn 13 låter live på to dager, og med en besetning som i tillegg talte 15 personer, var dette prosjektet etter alle målestokker en enorm utfordring. Sannsynligvis har ikke arrangementer av dette omfanget blitt innspilt og ferdigstilt innenfor denne tidsrammen tidligere, hverken nasjonalt eller internasjonalt, men det gikk, mye takket være innsatsvilje og vennskap blant utøverne. Noen av Norges fremste musikere deltok, og de fleste av de medvirkende har gått videre til å utvikle seg til internasjonale størrelser som nå turnerer jevnlig i inn- og utland, som soloartister, ensembler og orkestermusikere. At denne gjengen greide å samle seg på samme sted i to dager, er egentlig i seg selv utrolig.

Så, i mars 2004, den helgen Anette Sagen og Daniela Iranschko delte førsteplassen i hopprennet i Holmenkollen, satt 15 musikere hjemme hos Even Ormestad på Smestad og lagde plate. Blåserne kunne så vidt se Holmenkollens 64 meter høye tårn fra kjøkkenvinduet, og mens hopperne hoppet spilte vi inn musikk skrevet av Jonas H. Sjøvaag og arrangert av Jan Martin Smørdal.

Tekstene er skrevet av Jonas H. Sjøvaag , og er en samling historier som i stor grad er preget av en fascinasjon for beatlitteraturen, for Kerouac, Bukowski og Burroughs, for Tom Waits og Nick Cave. De beskriver narkomane og hjemløse, misantroper og fortapte sjeler, beskrevet med et humoristisk tilsnitt og en innfallsvinkel som gir rom for personlige tolkninger. Musikken følger stemningen i tekstene mesterlig, og Smørdals arrangementer løfter og utnytter mulighetene som ligger i musikken og ensemblet til det fulle.

Som komponist, tekstforfatter, vokalist, designer og ansvarlig utgiver, er det en udelt glede å presentere et prosjekt som har vært savnet blant musikerne i 11 år, og som jeg håper vil gi nye lyttere anledning til å glede seg over over tekstlige, kompositoriske og musikalske prestasjoner med utøvere som fortsatt, 11 år etter innspillingen, er blant norges fremste.

Utgivelsen finnes på 180g vinyl i et begrenset førsteopplag, og er tilgjengelig gjennom forskjellige digitale kanaler som Wimp, Spotify, iTunes og andre.

From the album Imperial Splendor - Shipwreckords © 2014
Buy CD and VINYL here:
Platekompaniet: platekompaniet.no/Musikk.aspx/CD/Mattis__The_Grand_Trunk_Road/Imperial_Splendor/?id=SHPWRK007
More info: shipwreckords.no/album/imperial-splendor
Words and music by Mattis Myrland
Directed, filmed and edited by Birgit Solhaug
Produced in collaboration with Feral Entertainment, New Delhi
---------------------------------------------------------------
In 2007, singer Mattis Myrland travelled to India - New Delhi, to live and study with a master of Indian Classical Singing - Madhumita Ray. The discipline and daily vocal training inspired Mattis to create a host of stories and gave him a rucksack full of new sounds to accompany them.
Back in Norway, Mattis reworked the sketches he had scribbled and recorded during his eight months stay. He gathered together some of his favourite performers on the Norwegian music scene, and named the band after one of South Asia’s oldest roads that has linked the Eastern and Western regions of the Indian subcontinent for centuries.
Mattis & The Grand Trunk Road played at several festivals in the last few years with Mattis meticulously rewriting and recording his compositions along the way, trying out various phrases live and finishing them in his studio in downtown Oslo.
The album 'Imperial Splendor' is a collection of songs linking his Western singer/songwriter background with the influence of the East. The blend is a soundscape, hard to frame into any specific genre. Its direct, yet poetic story-telling leads the way and the music varies from the spare and ethereal, to the dense and edgy. 'These stories have their own pace and attitudes and I didn’t want the standard popsong-formula to limit how they unfold. It’s a state of mind that needs constant exercise, letting the words show you the way and letting the music follow the flow of the words', Mattis explains.
Mattis can also be heard on albums and on stage with other artists on the Norwegian music scene, such as singer/songwriter Ingrid Olava, electronic duo mattisogjonas, bluegrass-quartet Lucky Four, singer/songwriter Andreas Halmrast, and jazz piano player Jon Balke.

Jazzens ti på topp - 2014
Jazz top 10 - 2014

By Roald Helgheim, Dagsavisen

We're very happy to report that the album 'Universal Cycle' by Eple Trio is on Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisens list of best jazz albums of 2014.

1. Large Unit: «Erta Ale». Paal Nilssen Loves store band med elleve norske jazz-musketerar spelar alle andre av banen.

2. Eple Trio: «Universal» Cycles. Sterk norsk pioner og pianotrio feira tiårsjubileum med fjerde og beste album.

3. Ola Kvernberg & TrondheimSolistene: «The Mechanical Fair». Stort eller lite band, Ola Kvernberg skapar

4. Eldbjørg Raknes og Oscar Grönberg: «You Make Me Feel». Årets musikalske lukketreff mellom ei stemme og eit piano.

5. Come Shine: «Red And Gold». Live Marie Roggen og dei andre strålar i nasjonens mest populære jazzband.

6. Ellen Andrea Wang: «Diving». Bassist og vokalist på djupt vatn strålar med nytt band og sitt første soloalbum.

7. Helge Lien Trio: «Badgers and other beings». Helge Liens beste trio med åttande og beste plate for grevlingar og andre.

8. Spunk: «Adventura Botanica». Etter snart tjue år er dei fire jente-spunkarane i sitt ess i den botaniske hagen.

9. In The Country & Frida Aannevik: «Skogenes sang». Frida Aannevik syng Hans Børli med sitt hippaste band.

10. Elin Rosseland: «Vokal». Rosseland, Karl Seglem og 21. kvinnestemmer i alle slags konstellasjonar.

Original article: http://www.dagsavisen.no/helg-nye-inntrykk/jazz/eit-jazz%C3%A5r-med-smel...

Watch our anniversary concert, live from Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo!

LP + CD-sleeve
NORCD1438/39LP

Photo + cover design

Untitled #29 (Waterfall III) | 100 cm X 100 cm

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Untitled #28 (Waterfall) | 100 cm X 100 cm

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Untitled #27 (Waterfall) | 130 cm X 113 cm

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Untitled #26 | 100 cm X 100 cm

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Untitled #25 | 100 cm X 100 cm

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Norwegian Sky III | 130cm X 85cm

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Norwegian Sky II | 130cm X 90cm

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Norwegian Sky I (Vaalerenga, Oslo) 130cm X 85cm

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House (from Made This (2007)) performed live at Sendesaal, Bremen, 2014
Composed by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag

Moon Tint (from Made This (2007)) performed live at Sendesaal, Bremen, 2014
Composed by Sigurd Hole

Video interview with guitarist Ivar Grydeland, made for Subradar.no

Coverdesign by Jonas H. Sjøvaag
Photo by Natalia Ulanova | Editing by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

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Epson Traditional Photo Paper
Epson Stylus PRO9900

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Numbered digigraphie

Epson Traditional Photo Paper
Epson Stylus PRO9900

In 2007, singer Mattis Myrland travelled to India - New Delhi, to live and study with a master of Indian Classical Singing - Madhumita Ray. The discipline and daily vocal training inspired Mattis to create a host of stories and gave him a rucksack full of new sounds to accompany them.

Back in Norway, Mattis reworked the sketches he had scribbled and recorded during his eight months stay. He gathered together some of his favourite performers on the Norwegian music scene, and named the band after one of South Asia’s oldest roads that has linked the Eastern and Western regions of the Indian subcontinent for centuries.

Mattis & The Grand Trunk Road played at several festivals in the last few years with Mattis meticulously rewriting and recording his compositions along the way, trying out various phrases live and finishing them in his studio in downtown Oslo.

Now, the album ‘Imperial Splendor’ is finally ready. A collection of songs linking Mattis’ Western singer/songwriter background with the influence of the East. The blend is a soundscape, hard to frame into any specific genre. Its direct, yet poetic story-telling leads the way and the music varies from the spare and ethereal, to the dense and edgy. ‘These stories have their own pace and attitudes and I didn’t want the standard popsong-formula to limit how they unfold. It’s a state of mind that needs constant exercise, letting the words show you the way and letting the music follow the flow of the words’, Mattis explains.

Cutup of Moutmarka, Tjøme (NO). Windy but sunny

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Storm at Moutmarka, Tjøme, South Norway

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"Why and how has the Norwegian scene managed to build such a reputation, not just on its own turf but around the world? There are a number of answers to that question, but first and foremost is a commitment to the arts that began more than 40 years ago and which has, unlike so many other countries, remained a priority ever since. When Sverre Lunde, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, spoke at the 2013 Punkt Festival in Kristiansand – announcing that, after nine years, the Ministry would be providing some well-deserved (and much needed) financial support to the festival, and that Punkt was now considered amongst the country’s elite events – what was, perhaps, an even more compelling statement was that the country’s goal has been to devote a full one percent of its budget to culture. That means that last year, in 2012, ten billion Norwegian Kroners – nearly 1.7 billion US dollars – was devoted to the arts. As a Canadian in a bilingual country, there’s a French word to describe this: incroyable!"

Read more here: http://musicnorway.no/2013/10/28/music-from-norway-just-how-important-is...

Eclipse

22/10 | 2013

En samtale om markedsføring i streamingmarkedet. Hvordan maksimere salg via streamingtjenester. I samtale med Phonofile.
Ledet av Jonas Howden Sjøvaag.

Panelsamtale med Erik Brataas (Phonophile), Inger Elise Mey (TONO), Marthe Thorsby (Ifpi), og Jonas Howden Sjøvag (Subradar)

Noen av de største autoritene på det digitale musikkmarkedet møtes til debatt om hvilke utviklingstrekk og utfordringer streaming står ovenfor.

Streaming seiler opp som den ubestridte vinner på musikkonsumentmarkedet, og Norden ligger ca. fem år foran resten av verden. Kritikk og irritasjon har gjort seg gjeldende blant artister, låtskrivere og labler. For er det ikke bare megahits og enorme backkataloger som gjør reell inntjening mulig? Og hva med den såkalte "norskandelen"?

Velkommen til debatt som synliggjør muligheter og utfordringer i dagens og fremtidens streamingmarked. Etter samtalen åpnes det for spørsmål, synspunkter og kommentarer fra salen.

Inger Elise Mey er opphavsrettsjurist og lisensierte via TONO de første nettstedene med musikk allerede i 1996. I dag er Mey avdelingsdirektør for online media og internasjonal lisensiering.

Marte Thorsby er opprinnelig advokat og direktør i IFPI - plateselskapenes interesseorganisasjon.

Erik Brataas har vært daglig leder av den digitale musikkleverandørstjenesten Phonofile siden selskapet ble etablert i 1999. Brataas sitter i styret til Merlin, en internasjonal organisasjon som samler verdens uavhengige plateselskaper.

Larry Bringsjord driver plateselskapet MTG Music og er styreleder i FONO, de norske uavhengige plateselskapenes interesseorganisasjon.

Jonas Howden Sjøvaag er musiker, komponist, og en av personene bak subradar.no, et sted som fokuserer på digital musikkditribusjon utenfor de tradisjonelle kretsløpene.

Musikkforum er Norsk Komponistforening og NOPAs felles faglige forum med målsetting om å skape større bevissthet og engasjement rundt komposisjon, tekst og beslektede temaer innenfor musikk. Musikkforum er gratis og åpent for alle.

Photo shoot with Klaus Holm and the band Honest John.
More info here: http://www.honestjohn.no/

Katt Hernandez (violin, Japan tour)
Ole-Henrik Moe (violin)
Kim Johannesen (guitar, banjo)
Ola Høyer (bass)
Erik Nylander (drums)
Klaus Ellerhusen Holm (composition, alto sax, clarinet

4 page booklet + inlay | Jewelcase
Released by AIM

Cover for Boa - mOOn Over tOwns
Grappa Musikkforlag

4 panel digipak
8 page booklet
Digital booklet

Poster for Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Marius Neset
A3 | 2013

Very happy to make it to the second round of the Saatchi 'Back to Nature' Showdown.
2800 artists have become 300, and after jury votes the number will be down to 30.

I've entered with a piece entitled David's Rowanberries: http://www.saatchionline.com/art/New-Media-Art-Digital-Collage-David-s-r...

All the finalists can be viewed here: http://www.saatchionline.com/showdown/art/showdown/15

Lab label is a new label run by Ingfrid Breie Nyhus, aiming to release folk music digitally and physically. The images presented here is the logo sheet for this project.

Ingfrid wanted something that moves upward, representing something new but still with a connection to tradition. So, this is an abstraction of an exclamation mark, rounded off quite a bit, resembling a seed that really is both a promise of something new, whilst at the same time being rooted in tradition.

This is a logo for Subron, the house label for online (non-profit) record store Subradar.no.
Run by Klaus Holm, the label aims for digital releases of music within the genres sold at the shop. These include noise, improv, free jazz and related genres.

Check out the store at: www.subradar.no

Taken from a plane en route to Hamburg, Germany.
Original available as limited edition Epson Digigraphie.

Untitled #16 (Hello Réne) | 120x80 | Edition 1 of 10

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Also used as a front for NORCD1327: http://www.jonassjovaag.no/content/80/papirfly-norcd1327

4 panel digipak
Papirfly | NORCD1327

Hanne Kalleberg, vokal
Philip Birkenes, piano
Knut Olav Buverud Sandvik, bass
Jakop Janssønn, trommer og sag

More info: http://www.norcd.no

Original photo: http://www.jonassjovaag.no/content/80/untitled-16-hello-r%C3%A9ne

Vinyl release
Duplex - Sketches Of... | NORCD1325

Christian Meaas Svendsen & Harald Lassen

More info: http://www.norcd.no

Time matures us. Four years and two months went by between the recording of NORSKjazz.no and this album. In the course of these years this quartet has presented around 30 concerts with material from the earlier recording. It has been an inspiring and powerful experience to see that the tunes we recorded, which were written a long time ago, come alive every time they are played.

This new recording presents tunes that I have written during the past years. It also includes tunes that the other members of the quartet have composed, which we have shaped together as an ensemble. I also wanted to include a composition by someone else that appealed to me, as I did with “Portugalsong” on the first record. And in my collection of vinyl I found “Återsken” by Göran Fristorp, a recording that I had forgotten about. All the times I had listened to that one! Summers in Bergen and at Årdalstangen many years ago. The atmosphere, the people, the memories. I think "Drömvisa" (Dream song) is a beautiful song (with very nice lyrics too). I regard it as a real challenge to play a song straight through as I do here.

Simple, clean and lovely were our key words for the first quartet album. I am trying to continue that pattern here, with a focus on melody. At the same time I feel that this recording is more open and confident, while it is also inquisitive and searching.

It has been an unexpectedly inspiring experience to be able to complete and present this collection of new tunes for a classic jazz quartet. The music has led us here. And onwards. Time matures us.
Karl Seglem, June 2013

I've entered the Saatchi Showdown Contest. If you like my work, please give it your vote HERE!

Koan is:
Torbjørn Eftestøl (piano & prepared piano)
Juhani Silvola (prepared guitar & electronics)

Kōan; Listening into the Event

Looking back at last century in his book The Century, Alain Badiou discusses how «the passion for the real» is the touchstone, what unites and runs through every endeavour, from politics to art, from philosophy to love. What this passion itself reveals is an abyss within the human being; the abyss between semblance, representation – of which our conscious life is composed – and reality in its process of constant creation. This desire, to capture the real, is common for many of the 20th Century philosophers, and can be seen in their interest in all sorts of practices; in psychoanalysis, in art, in revolutionary politics etc. Philosophy must leave interpretation for experimentation, Gilles Deleuze often states, and in this it can learn from other ways of thinking and engagement. Across all its different articulations we can see this as a main endeavour, taken up from Heidegger’s critic of metaphysics and inauguration of the thinking of the Event.

Thinking which takes its departure from the event, and which proceeds towards the event, is therefore a thinking which strives to overcome representation and interpretation, and open and enter the forces of the real world in its becoming. Therefore, because the intrusion of the real scatters and decomposes our representations and therefore also our given «self», an event may radically change the circumstances in which it occurs, and recreate the meaning of past and future.

One kind of practise which can seize the event, one particular distribution of thinking which is engaged in the world and its forces of becoming, is art. As a general example of an artistic event, an event within the domain of sensibility, Alain Badiou says this:

“…what is an artistic event? …generally speaking, an artistic event, a real artistic event is a change in the formula of the world….it’s a new current in the chaotic sensibility. It’s a new disposition of the immanent relation between chaotic sensibility and formalization.” (http://www.lacan.com/symptom6_articles/badiou.html)

In this formulation we discern the surfacing of an abyss and the touch upon the real. It occurs in an act which dissolves representation of sensibility (the change and therefore giving up of the old disposition of sensibility), and opens up to the forces and dynamics of formalization, of creating new forms and ways of organizing the sensible. Out of this a new world emerges. This must not be taken as a mere reorganizing of given elements, since the event is the act or the process itself in which the sensible is not yet given as a formula, but on its way into a (new) disposition. The activity can not be secondary to any kind of «given» substance or elements. Sensibility cannot be thought of as «objective», as opposed to subjective, and as preceding the event. This is shown in the placing of the event in the immanent relation between chaotic sensibility – which is a complete Outside, unthinkable in itself – and formalization as the act which brings forth forms. But, being an immanent relation, this act is nothing different from sensibility. It is therefore not a question of matter and form as two distinct principles as if formalization was imposed on some kind of unqualified matter, but of an involvement in sensibility. Badiou point to this locus but his formalism perhaps needs to be exchanged with Deleuze’s more intensive conception of thought in order for this to be practically realized as continuous event and not only as a cut. If the formalization as the becoming of what becomes is immanent to sensibility and not externally arranged then as Deleuze repeatedly points out the matter-form couple must be replaced by the material-force couple. It is a question of participation, and therefore requires a different kind of thinking and a different will in perception. Art therefore does not happen in imagination or as conceptual representation. What art does is to engage a thinking which pertains to a penetration of sensibility, and thereby engage in the world as event.

It is the partaking within this process of creation which gives the artistic event its special ontological and epistemological importance. This is because subjectivity is experienced as involved in this becoming-Other. To think this through one must come to terms with the body since this is precisely what opens to sensibility but at the same time what resists penetration of sensibility. This is so because in self-consciousness, the body is experienced as opposed to the phenomenon, in our case, sound. The body of the subject is the scene or place of the event, and if the event takes place, this place itself becomes event. The body becomes event when the border between phenomenon and body is overcome in a consciousness-activity which penetrates to the very being of sensibility.

As the original beginning, the body grants us dispositions and grids of sensibility. The artist works with these psychological and historical dispositions, and so engages in further elaboration of the given schemes and formulas of sensibility. She does this by bringing thinking into sensibility. But this elaboration is therefore simultaneously bringing it into proximity to chaos, to bring mobility into the disposition in order for it to approach the event. This is why every genuine work of art which is not only rearranging the elements, is both composition and decomposition, construction and deconstruction, or as Foucault said about Boulez, creating rules and breaking rules at the same time. To do this, we can say, is to enter the event horizon.

The event horizon designates a zone or a threshold situation where the activity of the event is being sensed. To consciously enter this horizon means that self-consciousness begins to be affected by force, by the real. This means further that one begins to enter a zone of in-determination where subjectivity can no more be discerned from the phenomenon. Beyond the event horizon all concepts which structure experience, like perception, thinking, will, object, subject etc, gradually acquire a new meaning since they can not be related to pre-given identities any longer (to ‘whom’ does the thinking, will, perception, etc belong?) Beyond the event horizon we gradually begin to operate on the level where these identities are constituted.

This means that one is lead to recognize the faculty of listening itself originally as event on the plane of immanence. This stands against our ordinary self-consciousness, which is tied to and composed of representations, of which listening is instinctively related and thereby denatured, converted into objectifying perceptions. This is a secondary creation, a fall out of the real original event. The real is of course not object of representation, but activity, force, change and becoming, traversing the world beyond and prior to the split between the subject and the object. Representation always re-presents a fall. Thinking must therefore take this into consideration when engaging in any kind of enterprise, and especially so when plunging into music and sound. We must learn to think beyond or prior to representation if we are to listen to the event because it is our ordinary thinking which represents in listening.

How will it be possible to learn this new art of immanence, this thinking-listening? How can we develop a capacity for thought which can come to terms with the requirements set by music and sound? Is it possible to actualize thinking as event in such a way that it can operate consciously on the plane of immanence, and enter the event without actualizing a world-order ruled by endless representations? For our time this is the great question that will have to be adressed as we enter into the new era of reshaping the body and its dispositions by means of accelerating technology. Immanence can be engineered; computer gaming shows this already (in its very first baby steps). But can it also be self-consciously acquired? In fact it can, but to learn to do this one must discover what Yeshayahu Ben-Aharon, in his book on the Event in Scinece, History Philosophy & Art, has succinctly termed a threshold identity. From here on one can begin to develop the reversals and transformations that constitute this (non)identity. Only when we can become the vortex at the edge of this threshold will we be true contemporaries to what takes place in our time.

All music written and performed by Koan
Recorded and mixed by Juhani Silvola
Mastered by Chris Sansom at Propeller Mastering
Cover design, photos (Earth / Death) & artwork by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Booking / contact: koanmusicbooking@gmail.com

Sold to a Norwegian collector.

Printed using Epson certified Digigraphie

One sold | 14 available

http://www.saatchionline.com/art/Photography-Gicl-e-Haugalandet-I-Norway...

Universal Cycle:
Listen & buy this album

Released October 1st 2014

Recorded in IsItArt Studio, Sweden, by Peder Kjellsby & Sjur Miljeteig, and in Propeller Music Division, Oslo, Norway, by Morgan Nicolaysen.
Mixed by Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Music Division. Mastered by Chris Sansom at Propeller Music Division.

All tracks written by Jonas H. Sjøvaag, except track 2, 5 & 6 written by Andreas Ulvo.
Produced by Jonas H. Sjøvaag, Sigurd Hole & Andreas Ulvo. Cover photo (Untitled #21 / Red Mirage), booklet photos & cover design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag.

Liner Notes:
You start in the barren desert, and then you walk through the woods. Entering a small forest island in which there are no trees, only open space surrounding the watering hole where all animals come to drink. Then you pass that gleaming, in that particular forest, abandoning the direct sunlight, seeking refuge in the shades beneath a dense layer of vegetation.

In there it’s cooler, and when you look up you can sometimes see how the sun and the blue sky peeks through the greens. Birds are audible, you can hear how they sing, how they eat and how they die. Some are caught by predators in a swift and sudden carnivorous action, others are falling motionless to the ground. The latter provides energy for a different chain; one that attacks much slower but one that is much more thorough.

After the forest comes the mountain. A steep climb, one that has not been climbed before, and it rises in front of you; rocks, dirt and compost piled up and built over a million years, but you shall conquer it, starting by lifting your body on the strength of your lower extremities. It’s humanity and evolution that lifts your body over that first rock. You are part of a community, and this is how we are made.

Then you reach the top, and the sweat is dripping down your forehead, it trickles into your eyes and makes you blink. From there you see nothing, and you see everything. The sky is blue, and the sun is warm on your skin. You’re a conqueror, and you see what you have been granted through your effort. Descending from the mountain you see water from the great Ocean flowing with enormous force, grinding away the stones in its path. When you first set foot in it you feel an enormous joy that stems from how you know that you belong in all of your surroundings.

This, in essence, tells The Observer that human emotion always relies on a connection between the body and the mind. Such is our collective nature, and we are all susceptible to modes of input.

´Universal Cycle´ was made in a time where it felt natural to embrace extroversion as a mode of output. It may not become the norm.

New album by Eple Trio, due for release in Japan on September 7th. Norway and rest of the world will follow in March 2014.

Jewelcase with 8 page booklet and inlay with dual sided print.

Tracklist:
01 / Setting Foot on Another Planet (Sjøvaag)
02 / One Elephant (Ulvo)
03 / Island Sunrise (Sjøvaag)
04 / In Our Home, Where We Live (Sjøvaag)
05 / First Sun (Ulvo)
06 / Tippler’s Insomnia (Ulvo)
07 / And Now, Many Days Have Passed (Sjøvaag)
08 / Morning Stillness, Crisp Air (Sjøvaag)
09 / On a Road That Never Ends (Sjøvaag)

Andreas Ulvo / Piano
Sigurd Hole / Bass
Jonas H. Sjøvaag / Drums
Mathias Eick / Trumpet (track 3, 4 & 7)
Ivar Grydeland / Guitar (track 1 & 5)

Recorded in IsItArt Studio, Sweden, by Peder Kjellsby & Sjur Miljeteig, and in Propeller Music Division, Oslo, Norway, by Morgan Nicolaysen. Mixed by Morgan Nicolaysen at Propeller Music Division. Mastered by Chris Sansom at Propeller Music Division. All tracks written by Jonas H. Sjøvaag, except track 2, 5 & 6 written by Andreas Ulvo. Produced by Jonas H. Sjøvaag, Sigurd Hole & Andreas Ulvo. Cover photo (Untitled #21 / Red Mirage), booklet photos & cover design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag / jonassjovaag.no

I've entered the showdown at Saatchi online galleries, presenting the image 'David's Rowanberries.'
Very much inspired by David Hockney, the image is a cut-up of a rowanberry tree nearby a lake in Oppland, Norway.

Watch it here: http://www.saatchionline.com/art/New-Media-Art-Digital-Collage-David-s-r...

Old Mares, 17 years of age. Have now given birth four times, after being kept as race horses before given the chance to breed.

Genealogically linked to the image "Colt in a Field" as the colt portrayed is the offspring of one of these.

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Colt in the field - Color and medium variation #1
42 x 59,4 printed on paper | Limited edition number 1 of 100

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Looking up at l'Aiguille du Midi, from Chamonix.

Available in two sizes:

80 x 120
Paper / Epson Certified Digigraphie

Size: 150 x 225
White aluminium

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Variation on the topic stated in Lors de la marche dans la forêt, je regarde les montagnes #1.
Still walking in the woods.

Edition 1 of 10
Certified Epson Digigraphie
http://www.saatchionline.com/art/New-Media-Art-Digital-Photography-Lors-...

Variation on the topic in Stones in display cases / In the museum #1.
Still walking in the Geology museum (Oslo, Norway), pulling out color and rearranging space in the image.

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Boschamaz | Rød
HECREC106
6-panel digipak

Photo by Raymond Mosken
Design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Okavango | Phonogene
HECREC107
6-panel digipak

Photo by Raymond Mosken
Design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Koboku Senjû | Selektiv hogst
SOFA530
4-panel digipak

Artwork + design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Vertex | Shapes & Phases
SOFA529
4-panel digipak

Artwork, drawing + design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Mural | Nectars of Emergence
SOFA538
4-panel digipak

Artwork + design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Varianter av døde trær | Akiyama, Taxt, Lønning, Reinertsen
SOFA536
4-panel digipak

Drawing, artwork & design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

North of the North
SOFA525
Marc Pichelin / Ivar Grydeland / Ingar Zach
4-panel digipak

Drawing, artwork & design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Streifenjunko | No Longer Burning
SOFA527
4-panel digipak

Artwork & design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Hilde Marie Kjersem | Let's Let Go
BRCD001 / BRLP001

Superjewelcase w/ 12 page booklet
Single release
Digital booklet (iTunes)
Gatefold vinyl cover (shown here)

Photo by Hilde Marie Kjersem
Editing, design & artwork by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Håkon Storm | Zinober
NORCD1105
4-panel digipak

Photo by Øyvind Næss
Cover design & artwork by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Stian Omenås | Klangkammer
NORCD1201
4-panel digipak

Photo by Andreas Ulvo
Cover design + artwork by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Lindha Kallerdahl | Let's Dance
NORCD1207
4-panel digipak

Photo by Klara Andreasson
Cover design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

BLINK | NORCD1103
4-panel digipak

Cover photo (Andalucian Sky) and design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

NORCD1099 / 2CD
6-panel digipak + booklet

Released in 2012
Photos, artwork and design by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Sunny weather
115 km
1400 meters elevation gain
Finish at Grefsenkollen, Oslo

The photo 'Oslo Opera 1' is featured in the collection The Naked Eye: New Photography, curated by Rebecca Wilson.
Head over to http://www.saatchionline.com/art-collection/Photography-Digital-Mixed-Me... to view more photos from this selection.

Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, "Portugalsong"
(Trad./arr.Seglem) Live in Tromsø (N) October 2011

The Greatest Joy on Earth
by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
live at Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2012

Recorded by John Kelman at Kongsberg Jazzfestival (N) 2012, for All About Jazz
http://www.allaboutjazz.com

We´re looking forward to play 6 gigs and then travel to sørfjorden and Odda to record our next album.

We went to Odda in Hardanger to record our next album. Spent three nights there and had intense studio-days rehearsing and recording new stuff.
Hopefully the album will be out during spring 2013.

The Norwegian duo mattisogjonas moves fluently between the genres of pop, improvised music and electronica, and have just recorded a new song suited for the pop segment more than anything else they have done. The song is called ''And There You Were' and is an epic tale of love to life, to eternity and to the human lifespan of birth and death. It takes you out in the vast cosmos, a trillion years into the future, and back when the main characters of the song imploodes into each other through a collision of particles in the CERN Large Hadron Collider. This is a song about the large scale, and about endless space.

'And There You Were' - text & lyrics by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag.
Recorded by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag and Mattis Myrland.

Mixed by George Tanderø. Mastered by Chris Sansom.

Video by Kristof Brandl
mattisogjonas.com

15 editions available per print. Some are sold, contact me for further details.

Lyrics on track #1 by Jonas H. Sjøvaag

På ”For Flowers, Cars and Merry Wars” som slippes digitalt og i begrenset opplag på vinyl går Huntsville i en tyngre, mørkere, mer rocka og elektrisk retning.

Den særegne improviserende trioen Huntsville har tidligere utgitt to originale og kritikerroste album på norske Rune Grammofon. De har turnért i Europa og USA flere ganger, samarbeidet med Sidsel Endresen, Wilco´s Nels Cline og Glenn Kotche og gjorde nylig en konsert i Spania med Thurston Moore fra Sonic Youth. Musikken til Huntsville er som med mye annen god musikk ganske vanskelig å putte i bås. Musikkjournalister har prøvd seg med både ”yoga country” og ”abstrakt drone americana”, og denne gangen er nok både sammenligninger med ”krautrock” og band som Black Dice ikke helt usannsynlige. Men først og fremst er dette Huntsvillemusikk. Ingen andre låter som dem.

På det monumentale sporet som fyller hele A-siden får de selskap av den fantastiske alternativpop vokalisten Hanne Hukkelberg. Albumet er mikset i Propeller Studios med Kåre Chr Vestrheim (Motorpsycho, Jaga Jazzist) bak spakene. - Helt klart det mest helstøpte albumet fra trioen så langt. Hypnotiserende og energisk musikk som fortjener å bli spilt høyt.

Navyelectre's newest record and the first in a series of five entitled 'AORTA'
Available in online stores from 1st of January 08. Official release February 20th 2008.

Album information:
Produced, arranged, composed & lyrics by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag.
Mixed by Audun Borrmann at Cabin Recorders, Oslo, Norway
Mastered by Brad Blackwood, Euphonic Masters , USA

Every instrument played by Jonas Howden Sjøvaag, with the exception of synth sax solo on 'Then spring exploded into light' by Jørgen Munkeby of Shining , and guitar solo on 'Skullduggery' by Even Helte Hermansen.

Geek listings:

Instruments used Microphones Mixing equipment  Recording locations Food eaten during recording & mix (6 months)

Vocals


Piano


Drums


Acoustic high strung guitar


Electric guitar


Roland synth


Casio SK-5 circuit bent by Daniel Park, USA


Clarinet


Kalimba


Percussion

Sennheiser MD441


Microtech Gefell 92.1S (thanks Håvard)


Soundeluxe (thanks Audun)


Neumann KM 184, stereo pair (thanks Ivar)

ProTools HD

 


Dalsbergstien 12


Seilduksgata 25


Slemdalsveien 11


Sagveien 17 


 


 


3 bananas


1 roastbeef sandwich


Carrots (2 kilos, approx.)


2 kebabs


50 slices of bread with (alternating or combined) cheese, ham, tomato, basil, cucumber, foies gras


10 liters of milk


3 salad Lyonnaise


100 cups of coffee


3 cups of tea


1 bottle (0,33 l) of Coke


4 club sandwich 

 

 

Sjøvaag appears on track #2

Batymetri = topografi som beskriver forhold under vann. Et batymetrisk kart gir informasjon om bunnforholdene i havet eller en innsjø, som for eksempel dybde.

Bathymetric Modes er solodebuten til en av våre favorittmusikere; Ivar Grydeland. Han er kanskje mest kjent som medlem i de improvisasjonsbaserte bandene Huntsville, Ballrogg og Dans Les Arbres (ECM), men spiller også med den idiosynkratiske popartisten Hanne Hukkelberg og rockebandet Last Heat.

Tanken om å gjøre et soloprosjekt har brukt mange år på å modnes og innspillingen har foregått over lang tid. Resultat er en varm og personlig instrumentalplate som viser nye sider av musikeren Ivar Grydeland.

Albumet består av seks komposisjoner fra perioden 2007-2011. De to gitardrevne og melodiske åpningslåtene etterfølges av mer abstrakte og klangfokuserte komposisjoner der den kompakte grafiske synthesizeren Tenori-on spille en sentral rolle. “Synthens utforming, begrensninger og muligheter innbyr til minimalistisk repetitiv mønstermusikk ”, sier Ivar. ”Ut i fra denne digitale lydveven av repetisjonen har jeg prøvd å hente ut og forsterke melodier og stemninger med forskjellige akustiske instrumenter.” Musikken på ”Bathymetric Modes” er sterkt billedskapende og beveger seg mellom dynamisk drivende og mer duvende og statiske komposisjoner.
Albumet vil appelere både til fans av Jim O´Rourke og Terry Riley.

In the Clearing / In the Cavern (Double album - 2010)
Listen & buy this album

Liner notes

These two albums, “In the Clearing” and “In the Cavern”, were recorded during an intense week deep in the desolate forests of Sweden. When driving to the studio, the last leg of the journey is on a gravel road through dense vegetation, and although we noisily arrived in cars, we spotted a fox crossing the road, an eagle on territorial watch and some deer grazing lazily in the pine tree shadows. This set the mood for the week to come; a complete focus on music, playing and interaction, and thus an effort to expand our sound inspired by these wondrously calm surroundings. Influenced more than ever by Scandinavia - our nature, our cold, our summers and our wildlife - this is, in many ways, programme music and a tonal description of a part of the northern hemisphere. It all felt very natural to us when playing, so we experienced very little of the confusion, doubts and errors often associated with the recording process. Naturally we recorded several takes on many songs, but although these compositions rely either heavily or entirely on improvisation both in form and harmony, we recorded versions where the length of the take matched the previous version to the second.
This is a very satisfying feeling when in the studio, as it means that we have developed a common sense of mood and time, and a level of precision that allows us to stop thinking and just play.

Jonas Howden Sjøvaag August 2010

Tenorsaksofonisten Karl Seglem har saman med Eple trio skapt eit album som bryt med hans tidlegare utgjevingar. Samstundes er den ei tydeleg vidareføring av hans arbeid som musikar og komponist, og som poet. Norskjazz no, er ei melodiøs og melankolsk CD-innspeling med tradisjonell jazzkvartett. Ei vandring i eit landskap der det er tydeleg at Seglem har arbeida mykje med norsk folkemusikk som utgangspunkt for komposisjon og improvisasjon. Både klangleg og melodisk. Seglem seier sjølv at han ville laga "eit vakkert, poetisk og reinskore jazz-album". At han lenge hadde hatt ein draum om å komponere musikk til, og spela inn eit album med klassisk jazz-kvartett. No har han gjort det! Gjennom melodi, arrangement og improvisasjon framstår kvartetten som ei svært samspelt gruppe. Det er vanskeleg å skriva om musikken utan å bruka ord som kontemplativ og roleg. Den har eit melankolsk preg utan at stemninga ein sit att med er trist. Innspelinga er gjort "live" i studio. og klangen av Seglems tenorsaksofon i tett samklang med kritikarroste Eple Trio, viser nye sider av komposisjonane til Karl Seglem. Innspelinga inneheld også ein tradisjonell folketone frå Norge og ein fado frå Portugal. Norskjazz.no er lisensiert til Ozella Music i Tyskland og blir lansert internasjonalt i juli 2009. Albumet markerer eit aldri så lite jubileum: Seglems 25 CD-utgjeving. Han er stadig på veg inn i nye musikalske landskap.

Our latest (and only) album so far. Re-released by Million Records in 2012, with one additional song (And There You Were). This bundle contains 7 songs, and a PDF digital booklet.

Listen to this:
The Widening Sphere of Influence (2008)
iTunes WimpSpotify

These three musicians are operating at the interface between jazz, chamber music and folk music. The tradition established by Swedish musician Jan Johansson has, perhaps, been the primary source of inspiration for their music. The trio has a distinctive idiom, refreshingly free of what have been described as “piano-trio clichés”. Barely a year-and-a-half after their debut recording they are releasing a new album, this one also featuring guest soloists. The music is just as beautiful as on the group’s previous recording, and now has a more expansive quality. The energy level is intense throughout, but volume is not necessarily the decisive parameter for energy. Eple Trio is living proof of this. The group’s music is appealingly melodious and outgoing, revealing a brave young trio that dares to follow its own path. This is in striking contrast to the rank and file of young Norwegian jazz musicians, who have been so obviously influenced and inspired by the North American high-energy jazz of the 1960s and 70s. This album offers new, stylistically confident compositions with a distinctive quality that we could, perhaps, start calling the “Eple sound”. The members of the trio have developed an unusual level of empathy in their interplay. Jan Erik Kongshaug has once again worked his sound magic at Rainbow Studios in Oslo.

Made This (2007)
Listen & buy this album

These three musicians are operating at the interface between jazz, chamber music and folk music. The tradition established by Swedish musician Jan Johansson has, perhaps, been the primary inspiration for their music. The trio has an original and distinctive idiom, free of what have been described as “piano trio clichés”. The members of the trio themselves have composed all the music for their debut album, “Made This”. What they present here is beautiful, gentle music with a touch of something mystical and restrained. At the same time, their energy level is intense. Volume is not necessarily the decisive parameter for energy. Eple Trio is living proof of this. Their music is coherent, open, pleasingly melodious and appealing. This is a brave young trio that dares to go its own way, in sharp contrast with the rank and file of young Norwegian jazz musicians who have so obviously been influenced and inspired by the North American energy jazz of the 1960s and 70s. This album presents a collection of superb, stylistically varied, self-confident and highly original compositions. The members of the trio have been working together for many years, and have thus developed an unusual level of empathy in their interplay. Jan Erik Kongshaug of Rainbow Studios, who mixed “Made This”, has brought out the best in the recording made at Musikkloftet Studio.

We’re going to play several concerts this month. First out is Jon Balke’s festival MOMBI, located in Søndre Land, which is a two hour drive from Oslo. More info here: madstun.no. Next one is arranged by Kirkelig Kulturverksted and happens in Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo, on September 16th. This is a part of the series ‘Mathias Eick Presenterer’. Then, we’ll play at Norsk Maritimt Museum as a part of Oslo Kulturnatt. This happens at September 24th.

So, in short:
September 4th: MOMBI2010, Søndre Land
September 16th: Kulturkirken Jakob, Oslo
September 24th: Norsk Maritimt Museum, Oslo Kulturnatt

Welcome!

Mattis Myrland & Jonas H. Sjøvaag are active musicians on the Norwegian music scene, both with a background from the State Academy of Music in Oslo. They collaborate with other musicians, such as Ingrid Olava, Eple Trio and Karl Seglem, amongst others, and have a broad spectrum of influences and interests. The project mattisogjonas (mattis and jonas) is a result of years of work with improvised music and jazz, and an effort to combine the improvisational structures from these fields with the ear-catching dogma of modern pop music. The songs, however, differ greatly from the standard pop format, both in length and delivery and provide an alternate way of communication that is modern in terms of instrument usage, form and function, and expression. At the same time, the music pays homage to the tradition of spoken word, and William Burroughs is a main source of inspiration here. So, spoken word + electronics + improvisation and a profound command of language is, in essence, mattisogjonas.

http://millionpr.com/?page_id=1623

Contact

jonas@jonassjovaag.no
+4792842902

Past concerts

2022
September
27th 20:00 Sjøvaag & Ulvo, Forskningsdagene. Teateret, Kristiansand //
May
March
08th 19:00 Vinger Kirke // Eple Trio
2020
October
14th 20:00 Voss Jazzklubb w/ Jo Berger Myhre // Eple Trio
10th 21:00 Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo w/ Mats Eilertsen // Eple Trio
07th 19:00 Spor 5, Stavanger w/ Mats Eilertsen // Eple Trio
2019
December
05th 20:30 Tour of China - with Karl Seglem - 5th to 16th of dec. 2019 // Jonas Sjøvaag
2018
October
05th 22:00 Ståoppjazz 15-års jubileum, Bergen // Sjøvaag & Silvola
04th 20:00 Belleville, Oslo // Sjøvaag & Silvola
2017
November
24th 21:00 Stormen Konserthus // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
22nd 21:00 Sogndal Kulturhus, Blaoboxen // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
October
21st 14:00 Big Dipper, Oslo // West Wind Drift
20th 19:00 Biermannsgården, Oslo // West Wind Drift
18th 19:00 Biermannsgården, Oslo // West Wind Drift
September
23rd 13:30 Vippa, Oslo // West Wind Drift
02nd 19:00 Rendalen // Eple Trio
August
16th 20:00 Magnor Kirke // Eple Trio
May
March
February
12th 20:00 Tromsø Jazzklubb // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
09th 20:00 Lærdal Kulturhus // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
08th 20:00 Energimølla, Kongsberg // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
07th 20:00 Voss, Gamle kinoen // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
05th 20:00 Oslo, Kampenjazz // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
04th 20:00 Brelingen, Winterjazz (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
03rd 20:00 Moster Amfi, Mosterhamn // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
01st 20:00 Florø Kirke // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
January
26th 20:00 Kullebunden Jazzklubb, Kolbotn // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
2016
November
25th 20:00 Mokkiriya, Kanazawa (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
24th 20:00 Jazz Flash, Niigata (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
23rd 20:00 La Sone, Jyoetsu (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
22nd 20:00 Airegin, Yokohama (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
21st 20:00 Nardis, Kashiwa // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
20th 20:00 Pit Inn, Tokyo (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
19th 20:00 Pit Inn, Tokyo (JP) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
05th 20:00 Jameln, Platenlaase (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
04th 20:00 Fürstenwalde, Kulturfabrik (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
03rd 20:00 bFlat, Berlin (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
02nd 20:00 TBA (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
01st 20:00 KFZ, Marburg (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
October
31st 20:00 Treibhaus, Innsbruck (AU) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
30th 20:00 Ali Theater, Waldschut-Tiengen (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
September
April
2015
November
26th 20:00 Jazzklubb Arendal // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
20th 20:00 Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
14th 20:00 Jameln, Platenlaase // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
13th 20:00 B-Flat, Berlin // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
12th 20:00 B-Flat, Berlin // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
11th 20:00 Nesodden, Hellviktangen // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
October
18th 20:00 Asker Kulturhus // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
15th 20:00 Spor 5, Stavanger // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
May
04th 20:00 Deichmanske Bibliotek // Eple Trio
March
2014
November
October
September
May
08th 14:30 Pucheim (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
April
March
07th 13:00 Municipal School, Mumbai // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
07th 09:00 DPS, East // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
06th 13:00 Calorax Global School // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
06th 09:00 DPS, Bhopal // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
05th 17:00 PDPU, Gandhi Nagar // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
05th 09:00 IIT Gandhi Nagar // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
04th 17:00 Orphanage Home, Ahmedabad // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
04th 12:00 C.N. Vidyavihar, Ahmedabad // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
03rd 20:00 Mudra institute of Communications, Ahmedabad // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
03rd 16:00 Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
February
28th 14:30 Maharaja Agrasen College // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
27th 14:30 KIIT College of Engineering, Gurgaon // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
26th 12:30 St. Marks Senior Secondary Girls School, New Delhi // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
26th 10:30 KIIT World School, Pitampura, New Delhi // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet, Eple Trio
2013
November
16th 14:45 Big Dipper // Other
October
27th 20:00 Schwäbisch Hall, Hospitalkirke (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
12th 20:00 Kinoen, Odda // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
September
10th 20:30 Nardis, Kashiwa, Chiba // Eple Trio
August
May
April
2012
October
27th 20:00 Alte Sendesaal, Bremen (DE) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
26th 20:00 Bikuben, Det Norske Teater (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
25th 20:00 Hamar Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
24th 20:00 Bergen Jazzforum UKS (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
23rd 20:00 Nesodden Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
21st 20:00 Asker Kulturhus (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
13th 20:00 Urijazz, Tønsberg (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
08th 20:00 Hemnes Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
07th 20:00 Sortland Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
06th 20:00 Sinus Jazzklubb, Bodø (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
05th 20:00 Tromsø Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
04th 20:00 Litteraturhuset, Oslo (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
July
05th 20:00 Kongsberg Jazzfestival (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
2011
May
07th 20:00 Arendal Jazzklubb (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
2010
November
24th 20:00 Jazzaid, Nasjonal Jazzscene (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
October
17th 20:00 Jazz på Jølster (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
September
30th 20:00 Nasjonal Jazzscene (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
25th 20:00 Oslo Maritimt Museum // mattisogjonas
16th 20:00 KKV // mattisogjonas
04th 20:00 MOMBI // mattisogjonas
June
April
11th 20:00 Kampenjazz, Oslo (NO) // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet
10th 20:00 Stavanger Jazzforum // Karl Seglem Acoustic Quartet

© Jonas H. Sjøvaag