Farmers Market is a Norwegian band founded in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...

, in 1991. They have released four

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

History

The band started out as a

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

quintet sprung out from the conservatory in

, but now incorporates a wide variety of genres, such as

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. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, bluegrass, classical and most significantly

Bulgarian folk music The music of Bulgaria refers to all forms of music associated with the country of Bulgaria, including classical, folk, popular music, and other forms. Classical music, opera, and ballet are represented by composers Emanuil Manolov, Pancho Vla ...

. Humorous arrangements, virtuosity and odd

time signature A time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, and measure signature) is an indication in music notation that specifies how many note values of a particular type fit into each measure ( bar). The time signature indicates th ...

s are characteristic to their style. Multi-instrumentalist

Stian Carstensen Stian Carstensen (born 5 January 1971) is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist musician, entertainer and with Jarle Vespestad (drums) and Nils-Olav Johansen (vocal and guitar), central member of the Balkan-jazz orchestra Farmers Market. Biography ...

is a sort of front figure, though guitarist

Nils-Olav Johansen Nils-Olav Johansen (born 12 April 1966 in Bjugn Municipality, Norway) is a major Norwegian entertainer and jazz musician (guitar and vocals), known from several recordings and as orchestra leader. He is with Jarle Vespestad (drums) and Stian ...

performs most of the lead vocals. The band's original saxophonist

Håvard Lund Håvard Lund (born 20 October 1970 in Gildeskål Municipality, Norway), is a Norwegian jazz musician (clarinet and saxophone) and composer, known from a series of recordings and collaborations with musicians like Anja Garbarek, Vigleik Storaas, ...

left the group in 1995, and they looked to

Bulgaria Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...

for a replacement.

Trifon Trifonov Trifon or Trifón () is a given name derived from the . An archaic transliteration from Greek is . It is used by Russians and other peoples of East Orthodox denomination. There is also a surname variant of the word. In Finnic languages, a variant ...

joined the band after auditioning by telephone. They have performed at several international jazz festivals, including the

Kongsberg Jazzfestival Kongsberg Jazz Festival or Kongsberg Jazzfestival is an international jazz festival that has been held annually in Kongsberg, Norway, since 1964. Artists Several worldwide great artists have visited Kongsberg during this festival; internation ...

(in 1993, 1995 and 2009),

Moldejazz Molde International Jazz Festival (MIJF) or Moldejazz (established 1961 in Molde Municipality) takes place annually in July, and is known as one of the oldest jazz festivals in Europe. It was initiated by the local Storyville Jazz Club. Since 1 ...

(in 1994, 2003, 2004 and 2010), the

North Sea Jazz Festival The North Sea Jazz Festival is a festival held annually on the second weekend of July in the Netherlands at the Ahoy venue. The festival moved to Rotterdam in 2006 after the demolition of the Statenhal in The Hague where it was originally held. ...

(in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, in 2004) and the

Berliner Festspiele The Berliner Festspiele (German language, German for Berlin Festivals) in Berlin organise and stage a large number of independent festivals as well as exhibitions and individual events in the fields of music, theatre, performance, dance, literat ...

(in 2005). The band's debut album, ''Speed/Balkan/Boogie'', was released in 1995. It is a live recording from two concerts held at Moldejazz 1994 with members from

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning Bulgarian female vocal group

Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares ''Le Mystère des Voix Bulgares'' (translated as "The Mystery of Bulgarian Voices") is a compilation album of modern arrangements of Bulgarian folk songs featuring, among others, the Bulgarian State Radio & Television Female Vocal Choir, with s ...

and two Bulgarian folk musicians. Their fourth studio album, ''Surfin' USSR'', was awarded an open-class Spellemannpris (Norwegian Grammy Award equivalent) in 2008. It was released on

Ipecac Recordings Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999, by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles, ex-lead singer of DUH, ex-employee of Mercury Records) and Mike Patton (Faith N ...

, a label distributed by the

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. The band has collaborated with several Norwegian orchestras, including the

Norwegian Radio Orchestra The Norwegian Radio Orchestra (Norwegian, ''Kringkastingsorkestret'', abbreviated as KORK) is a radio orchestra affiliated with the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (''Norsk rikskringkasting AS'', or NRK). Its principal base is the ''Store Studi ...

, the

Stavanger Symphony Orchestra The Stavanger Symphony Orchestra (, SSO) is a symphony orchestra based in Stavanger, Norway. The SSO principal venue is the Stavanger Concert Hall (Stavanger konserthus), performing in the Fartein Valen concert hall. History The Norwegian Broad ...

, the

Trondheim Symphony Orchestra The Trondheim Symphony Orchestra & Opera ( Norwegian: ''Trondheim Symfoniorkester & Opera'') is a Norwegian orchestra based in Trondheim, Norway. Its principal concert venue is the Olavshallen. The orchestra is organised as a trust and receives ...

and the

Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra The Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (KSO, Norwegian: ''Kristiansand Symfoniorkester'') is a Norwegian symphony orchestra based in Kristiansand. The KSO performs its concerts primarily at the Kilden Performing Arts Centre, and also at Kristi ...

. They have also collaborated with American jazz saxophonist and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

Michael Brecker Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as a performer and composer, received an honorary doctorate from Berklee College of Music in ...

Members

alto saxophone The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments. Saxophones were invented by Belgians, Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in the 1840s and patented in 1846. The alto saxophone is pitched in the key of E♭ ( ...

and

clarinet The clarinet is a Single-reed instrument, single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore (wind instruments), bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a Family (musical instruments), family of instrume ...

(since 1995) *

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German language, German ', from '—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a Reed (mou ...

kaval The kaval is a Diatonic and chromatic, chromatic end-blown flute, end-blown oblique flute traditionally played throughout the Balkans (in Albania, Romania, Bulgaria, Southern Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Northern Greece, and elsewhere) and ...

gaida Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, Nor ...

, guitar,

pedal steel guitar The pedal steel guitar is a console steel guitar with pedals and knee levers that change the pitch of certain strings, enabling more varied and complex music to be played than with other steel guitar designs. Like all steel guitars, it can play ...

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

and vocals *

guitar and vocals *

Jarle Vespestad Jarle Vespestad (born 16 April 1966) is a Norwegian jazz musician (percussion), the younger brother of jazz musician Liz Tove Vespestad, and a central member of Tord Gustavsen's projects. Career Vespestad was born in Kirkenes and picked up ...

drums *

Finn Guttormsen Finn Guttormsen (born 16 July 1968 in Mosjøen, Norway) is a Norwegian Jazz musician (upright bass), known for his dedicated contributions to the Farmers Market and recently to the Silje Nergaard Band, and musicians like Trygve Seim, Øyvind Br ...

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

Past member

(1991–1995)

Honors

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

2008, Open class * Spellemannprisen 2012, Open class

Discography

Albums

*1995: ''Speed / Balkan / Boogie'' *1997: ''Musikk fra Hybridene'' (''Music from the Hybrids'') (

Kirkelig Kulturverksted Kirkelig Kulturverksted (KKV) is a Norwegian company and record label, founded in 1974 by Erik Hillestad. Among the musicians who have issued records on the label are Ketil Bjørnstad, Kari Bremnes, Erik Bye, Ole Paus, Sigvart Dagsland, Bjørn ...

) *2000: ''Farmers Market'' (

Winter & Winter Winter & Winter is a record label in Munich, Germany that specializes in jazz, classical and improvised music. It was founded by Stefan Winter following the demise of his JMT Records label. Since 1997 Winter & Winter has released records by Da ...

) *2008: ''Surfin' USSR'' (

) *2012: ''Slav to the Rhythm'' (Division Records)

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 1991 establishments in Norway Free jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1991 Musical groups from Trondheim Norwegian bluegrass music groups Norwegian classical music groups Norwegian experimental musical groups Norwegian folk musical groups Norwegian jazz ensembles Norwegian musical quintets Spellemannprisen winners Universal Music Group artists Ipecac Recordings artists