Jon Larsen (born 7 January 1959) is a

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a style of small-group jazz originating from the Romani guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–53), in conjunction with the French swing violinist Stéphane G ...

guitarist, record producer, painter, and amateur scientific researcher. He is the founder of the group

Hot Club de Norvège Hot Club de Norvège is a string jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitarist Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad. Biography They are influenced by the music of Hot Club de France, and the Frenc ...

. In 2007 he received the Buddy Award for his lifelong contribution to

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

Career

When he was in his early teens, he learned rock and soul songs on an acoustic steel-string guitar. Through friends, he learned about blues, jazz, flamenco, and classical guitar. After he heard "Tears" by Django Reinhardt on the radio, he decided that this is how he wanted his guitar to sound. At seventeen he formed a string trio and had his first professional job. In the 1970s, Larsen worked mainly as a painter. He started the Hot Club de Norvege in 1980 with guitarists Per Frydenlund and bassist Svein Aarbostad. They had a hit record when they performed with pop singer Lillebjørn Nilsen. Larsen started the label Zonic Entertainment to record musicians who have been influenced by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by nonconformity, free-form improvisation, sound experiments, musical virtuosity and satire of ...

. He has worked with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

, Philip Catherine, Stéphane Grappelli,

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

Biréli Lagrène Biréli Lagrène (born 4 September 1966) is a French jazz guitarist who came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt–influenced style. He often performs in swing, jazz fusion, and post-bop styles. Biography Lagrène was born in ...

, Babik Reinhardt and Jimmy Rosenberg. He has produced more than 450 jazz records for the label he founded,

Hot Club Records Hot Club Records is a jazz record label established 1982, by guitarist Jon Larsen in Oslo, Norway.Dregni, Michael (2008) ''Gypsy Jazz: In Search of Django Reinhardt and the Soul of Gypsy Swing'', OUP USA, , p. 229 The label has released over 350 ...

. He has led a group of musicians who played with Zappa, including

Arthur Barrow Arthur Barrow (born February 28, 1952) is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Barrow was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 and grew up in ...

, Jimmy Carl Black,

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, ...

, Bunk Gardner, Tommy Mars, and Don Preston. They recorded the album '' Strange News from Mars''. ''Symphonic Django'' was released in 2008 by Storm Films, which also produced a documentary about Larsen and guitar virtuoso Jimmy Rosenberg titled ''Jon & Jimmy''. In 2012, the documentary won the Dutch Edison Award. After eight years of research, his book on cosmic dust in urban environments – ''In Search of Stardust: Amazing Micro-Meteorites and Their Terrestrial Imposters'' – was published in 2017. In 2020, he appeared in

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

's documentary film " Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds" where he demonstrated the methods of sampling micro-meteorites from urban environments.

Discography

As leader

* ''Guitar Sax Guitar & Bass'' (Hot Club, 1985) * ''Superstrings'' (Hot Club, 1992) * ''Jon Larsen & Pascal De Loutchek'' (Hot Club, 1994) * ''Guitaresque'' with Pascal De Loutchek, Stian Mevik (Hot Club, 1994) * ''The Swinging Guitar of Jon Larsen'' (Hot Club, 1995) * ''The Next Step'' (Hot Club, 2003) * ''Vertavo Live in Concert'' (Hot Club, 2006) * ''Short Stories from Catalonia'' (Hot Club, 2006) * '' Strange News from Mars'' (Zonic, 2007) * ''

The Jimmy Carl Black Story ''The Jimmy Carl Black Story'' is an album by Norwegian guitarist Jon Larsen. Review The first CD is a Part One: «The Surrealistic Space Odyssey», one hour of music inspired by the life of Jimmy Carl Black. The musical landscape is a groove ...

'' (Zonic, 2008) * ''Willie Nickersons Egg'' (Hot Club, 2009) With Hot Club de Norvege * ''String Swing'' (Herman, 1981) * ''Old, New, Borrowed & Blue'' (Hot Club, 1982) * ''Gloomy'' (Hot Club, 1984) * ''Swing de Paris'' (Hot Club, 1986) * ''La Roue Fleurie'' (Hot Club, 1992) * ''Vertavo'' (Hot Club, 1995) * ''Moreno'' (Hot Club, 1999) * ''Swinging with Vertavo, Angelo & Jimmy'' (Hot Club, 2001) * ''White Night Stories'' (Hot Club, 2002) * ''A Stranger in Town'' (Hot Club, 2003) * ''Django Music'' (Hot Club, 2008) * ''

A Portrait of Jon Larsen ''A Portrait of Jon Larsen'' is a compilation album by Norwegian jazz guitarist Jon Larsen that was released on his label, Hot Club Records. Review Larsen is celebrated on this album, which collects his best recordings from the past twenty ye ...

'' (2009)

As sideman

* Lillebjorn Nilsen, ''Original Nilsen'' (Studio B, 1982) * Lillebjorn Nilsen, ''Hilsen Nilsen'' (Grappa, 1985) * Ole Paus, ''Pausposten Extra!'' (Norsk 1996) * Jimmy Rosenberg, ''Django's Tiger'' (Hot Club, 2003) *

Volbeat Volbeat are a Danish rock band formed in Copenhagen in 2001. They play a fusion of rock and roll, heavy metal, and rockabilly. Their current line-up consists of vocalist and guitarist Michael Poulsen, guitarist Rob Caggiano, drummer Jon ...

, ''8 PM Tonight Live 2007 SOLD OUT'' (Mascot, 2008) * Volbeat, ''Heaven Nor Hell'' (Vertigo, 2010)

Books

* ''Maler I Solnedgang'' (Painter in the Sunset) – 2009 * ''Norske Meteoritter'' – 2014 * ''Zappa I Norge'' – 2015 * ''In Search of Stardust'' – 2016 * ''Robert Normann - Tusenkunstneren fra Sundløkka'' – 2016 * ''Hot Club de Norvège 1979-2019'' – 2019 * ''On the Trail of Stardust'' – 2019 * ''Atlas of Micrometeorites'' – 2020

Film

* ''Symphonic Django'' – Storm Studio – 2007 * ''Jon & Jimmy'' – Storm Studio – 2010, Winner of the Dutch Edison Award 2010

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Jon Norwegian guitarists Norwegian male guitarists 20th-century Norwegian painters 21st-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Norwegian record producers Hot Club Records artists Gypsy jazz guitarists Musicians from Bærum 1959 births Living people Male jazz musicians 20th-century Norwegian male artists 21st-century Norwegian male artists