Jon Balke
| Jon Balke | |
|---|---|
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Balke at Berchidda on Sardinia, 2006 (Photo by Gianfranco Rota) | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jon Georg Balke |
| Born |
7 June 1955 Furnes, Norway |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Piano |
| Website |
www |
Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955 at Furnes, Ringsaker, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer currently known for his Magnetic North Orchestra. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke.[1][2][3]
Career
He began with classical piano, but switched to blues at 12, though today 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.[4] 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 still existing Magnetic North Orchestra for which he composed the commissioned work Il Cenoneat to Vossajazz 1992.[5]
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.[1][4] In 2012 he was "Artist in residence" at Moldejazz.[6]
Honors
- 1984: Buddyprisen
- 1993: Jazz Musician of the year
- 2000:Edvard Prize in the class popular music – major works, for the album Solarized
- 2003: Oslo Bys kulturstipend[1]
- 2008: Gammleng-prisen in the class Jazz
- 2012: Artist in residens at Moldejazz[7]
Discography (in selection)
Solo albums
As band leader
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Collaborative works
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See also
References
- 1 2 3 4 Jon Balke Biography (in Norwegian). Norsk Biografisk Leksikon.
- ↑ "Europe Jazz Orchestra". EuropeJazz.net.
- 1 2 Kelman, John (2012-08-15). "Jon Balke: Magnetic Works 1993-2001 - Extended Analysis". AllAboutJazz.com. Retrieved 2012-11-09.
- 1 2 "Jon Balke Biography - Music Information Center Norway - MIC.no".
- ↑ "Jon Balke - alene med et flygel - Jazz". NRK.no (in Norwegian)
- ↑ "Jon Balke - Artist in Recidence". Moldejazz.no. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
- ↑ "Jon Balke – Magnetic Works" (in Norwegian). Jazz NRK.no.
- ↑ "Jon Balke - Warp". ECM Records. Retrieved 2016-02-26.
- ↑ "Jon Balke and Magnetic North Orchestra: Diverted travels - Listen to Norway MIC.no". (by Tomas Lauvland Pettersen)
- ↑ "Magnetic Works 1993-2001". ECM Records.
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External links
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Terje Bjørklund, Knut Kristiansen and Espen Rud |
Recipient of the Buddyprisen 1984 |
Succeeded by Terje Rypdal |
| Preceded by The Brazz Brothers |
Recipient of the Jazz Gammleng-prisen 2008 |
Succeeded by Finn Sletten |
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