A few days ago I had the honor of playing a duo concert with the fantastic musician and good friend Seamus Blake. Here’s a short clip:

I really hope we can do this again sometime, and I look forward to continue playing with Seamus in the quintet BRIDGES going on a European tour in two weeks:

Sept 6: Urijazz, Tønsberg (NO)
Sept 8: Bergen Jazzforum (NO)
Sept 9: Voss (NO)
Sept 11: The Vortex, London (UK)
Sept 12: Ronnie Scotts, London (UK)
Sept 13: Jazz Evidence, Kongsberg (NO)
Sept 14: Nasjonal Jazzscene, Oslo (NO)
Sept 15: Jazz Colmar (FR)

I had a fantastic week at Molde Jazz Festival, working with some of the greatest musicians from this part of the world – absolutely nailing my music, in addition to being awesome persons. The premiere of “MAETRIX” was a huge success, described as “a work for the eternity” and receiving overwhelming reviews. More importantly, the atmosphere in the concert hall was crazy: totally packed, both listening intensely and celebrating vocally together with us on stage. What a joy it was, and I REALLY look forward to touring with this extremely expensive and superb band in October!

Photo and videos by André Løyning

I september slipper Espen Berg Trio sin andre plate, «Bølge», på det japanske plateselskapet Blue Gleam. Plateslippet markeres med en lanseringsturné i Japan i november, der låtskriver og vokalist Silje Nergaard er med som gjesteartist. Sammen gjør de seks konserter på denne turneen:

22. nov TAMA CITY COMBINED CULTURAL CENTER, TOKYO
23. nov SAMMU CITY NARUTO CULTURAL CENTER, CHIBA
24. nov SUZAKA CITY CULTURAL HALL, NAGANO
25. nov SAKAE WARD CULTURAL CENTER – LILIS HALL, KANAGAWA
26. nov JOYO CITY CULTURAL CENTER, KYOTO
27. nov AMUSER KASHIWA CRYSTAL HALL, CHIBA

Konsertene vil by på musikk signert både Espen og Silje. Trioen spiller Espens rytmisk intrikate komposisjoner med overskudd, temperament og eleganse. Dette kommer også til syne i møte med Silje og hennes sterke og tidløse melodier, som vil gjendiktes i friske nye versjoner når kvartetten står på scenen i Japan.

EBT består av Espen Berg (piano, komposisjoner), Bárður Reinert Poulsen (bass) og Simon Albertsen (trommer). Trioen ga ut albumet «Mønster» på Blue Gleam i 2015, og JAZZ JAPAN beskrev EBT som «den beste og viktigste musikkoppdagelsen i første halvdel av 2016». Silje Nergaard toppet de japanske hitlistene med debutalbumet «Tell Me Where You’re Going» – en bragd som har ført til jevnlig turnering i Japan, og som nå tar form i et nytt samarbeid med en ung, innovativ og uredd trio.

// ENGLISH //

In September Espen Berg Trio will release their second album, «Bølge», on the Japanese label Blue Gleam. To promote this new album the trio will do a release tour in November, and the Norwegian singer and composer Silje Nergaard will join them as a guest artist. Together they will do six concerts in Japan.

The concerts will consist of music written by both Espen and Silje. The trio plays Espen’s rhythmically intricate compositions with surplus energy, temper and elegance. This will also be apparent when teaming up with Silje in Japan to play her strong and well known melodies, rearranged in fresh new versions.

So, it’s done. Eight compositions, 198 pages of music, written for 14 excellent musicians. Premiering at Molde Int’l Jazz Festival July 17th 20.00.

I’ve been working on this since August 2016, and it’s a relief to be ready for rehearsals – ONE day short of my deadline.

See you in Molde!!