Stian Carstensen (born 5 January 1971) is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist musician, entertainer and with

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) and

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 ...

(vocal and guitar), central member of the Balkan-jazz orchestra

Farmers Market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

Biography

Carstensen was born in

Eidsvoll Eidsvoll (; sometimes written as ''Eidsvold'') is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Akershus Counties of Norway, county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike Districts of Norway, traditional region. The administrative centre of the munic ...

and began playing the

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 ...

at the age of nine. He first learned from his father, and later from a classical player which he attended for four years. During this time he played in Norwegian TV, radio, festivals etc. He also toured in America, playing classical music. At the same time he was into swing jazz, and played standard tunes with his father, who was also a bass player. When Carstensen was 15 he started to play electric guitar in a rock band. After a while he resumed his interest in jazz and formed a trio with some local artists. He went freelance for a year or so and then he began to study in the Jazz Program at the Trondheim Musikkonservatorium, with the guitar as a main instrument. During his two years of study 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 ...

(1991–93), he formed the group

. The group was originally a free jazz quintet, until they one day found sheet music with a Bulgarian folk tune in 11/16. This was a great experience for the band members and they practiced day and night to be able to play this asymmetrical music. After a while Carstensen went 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 ...

and visited villages there to collect and study the local folk music. The result of the tour was a live record, Speed/Balkan/Boogie, with singers and musicians from the famous "Le mysteres des voix bulgares" recorded at Molde International Jazz Festival in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. After this he was totally dedicated to the

Bulgarian 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 Vladi ...

. He toured a lot with musicians from Bulgaria and

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, and learned a lot from them. Besides of being dedicated to this kind of music, he also took lessons in Composition, learned to play the 5-string

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. ...

in bluegrass style, played with various jazz groups (be-bop, and experimental) with Jon Christensen and Bendik Hofseth to mention some. In 1997 Farmers Market made their second album, ''Music from the Hybrides'', with saxophonist Trifon Trifonov from Bulgaria. This was an extreme album with elements of many different styles and ideas from bluegrass in odd meters to Metallica-like versions of traditional Balkan tunes and slick commercial music mixed with

Stockhausen Karlheinz Stockhausen (; 22 August 1928 – 5 December 2007) was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. He is known for his groun ...

. The album got very good reviews from many contemporary music magazines as well as rock, folk and jazz magazines in Europe. (in Norwegian) In 1998 Carstensen was invited to write commissioned work for ''Vossajazz'' Norwegian Jazz Festival at

Voss Voss () is a Municipalities of Norway, municipality and a Districts of Norway, traditional district in Vestland Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative center of the municipality is the village of Vossevangen. Other villages inclu ...

. He wrote some music and put together a band consisting of his colleague Jarle Vespestad, a leading Norwegian drummer who also play in Farmers Market, with

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

from

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, with

Tord Gustavsen Trio Tord is a given name, derived from the elements 'thor' meaning thunder, thunder god; and '' meaning peace, beautiful, fair. The name developed as a short form of Thorfrid (Old Norse). Notable people with the name include: * Tord Andersson (born 19 ...

from Norway, and

Ernst Reijseger Ernst Reijseger (born 13 November 1954) is a Dutch cellist and composer. He specializes in avant-garde jazz, free jazz, improvised music, and contemporary classical music and often gives solo concerts. He has worked with Louis Sclavis, Derek ...

from the

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 ...

. The music was performed in April 1998, with great success. The choice of musicians was made carefully, because they each had one thing in common; they were into a lot of styles at the same time. The music was composed in a contemporary spirit, but contained elements from many different styles without being artificial. This seems to be a highlight in Carstensen's career, and he has been working a lot with that ensemble after this. Another highlight was his release of the new record Farmers Market on the German label Winter & Winter, he toured Europe and Japan with this band in 2000. They received very good reviews both for the album and the concert in magazines such as ''

The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...

'', ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' among others. Farmers Market has also played at the world's biggest jazz festival, 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. ...

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 ...

, the Netherlands. Carstensen also played with Dutch cello player

. They work as a duo, playing only self-written stuff in various improvisational folk styles. He has studied Bulgarian polyphony in Bulgaria, and rural American Afro-Celtic music in the Appalachians, on a fee from the Norwegian cultural department. He is currently on a two-year state fee to study Bulgarian traditional music. His instruments are: accordion, kaval (Bulgarian flute), bagpipes, guitar, violin, mandolin & banjo. He played the accordionist in the circus band (and the soundtrack) of the 2005

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon Gaiman (; born Neil Richard Gaiman; 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, audio theatre, and screenplays. His works include the comic series ''The Sandman (comic book), The Sandma ...

Dave McKean David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an England, English artist. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpture. McKean has illustrated works by authors such as S. F. Said, S.F. Said, ...

film ''

MirrorMask ''MirrorMask'' is a 2005 British-American dark fantasy film designed and directed by Dave McKean, and written by Neil Gaiman from a story they developed together. Produced by The Jim Henson Company, the film stars Stephanie Leonidas, Jason Bar ...

''. In 2000 Carstensen recorded his solo album, with only his own compositions for ''Winter & Winter'', to be released in 26 countries. John Kellman of

All About Jazz ''All About Jazz'' is a website established by Michael Ricci in 1995. A volunteer staff publishes news, album reviews, articles, videos, and listings of concerts and other events having to do with jazz. Ricci maintains a related site, ''Jazz Near ...

recognized Carstensen's commission ''Flip'' for

Vossajazz Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year. The festival has been led by ...

March 2013, as no. 1 of his "Best Live Shows of 2013".

Discography (in selection)

Solo albums

*2004: ''Backwards Into The Backwoods'' ( Winter & Winter) *2021: ''Musical Sanatorium'' ( Grappa Musikkforlag)

Collaborations

;With Farmers Market (Stian Carstensen, Trifon Trifonov,

, Finn Guttormsen,

) *1995: ''Speed/Balkan/Boogie'' (

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 ...

) *1997: ''Musikk fra Hybridene (Music From The Hybrides)'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2000: ''

'' (Winter & Winter), nominated for ''This year's jazz records'' 2001 in Norway *2008: ''Surfin' USSR'' (Ipecac/Tuba) *2012: ''Slav to the Rhythm'' (Division) ;With

Frode Alnæs Frode Alnæs (born 3 March 1959) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer, known from cooperation with international artists like Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke, Ole Edvard Antonsen, Ketil Bjørnstad, Henning ...

Arild Andersen Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene. Career Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...

*1998: ''Sommerbrisen'' (

) *2003: ''Julegløggen'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2006: ''Høstsløv'' (Kirkelig Kulturverksted) ;With

Iain Ballamy Iain Ballamy (born 20 February 1964) is a British composer and saxophonist. He is considered one of the 25 greatest jazz saxophonists of all time and was featured as one of the world's all-time greats in ''BBC Music Magazine''s "100 Jazz Legen ...

*2000: ''Pepper St. Interludes'' (Feral Records), featuring Stian Carstensen with special guests:

Norma Winstone Norma Ann Winstone MBE (born 23 September 1941) is an English jazz singer and lyricist. With a career spanning more than 50 years, she is best known for her contributions to improvised vocal music. Musicians with whom she has worked include ...

Martin France Martin France (29 February 1964 – 5 September 2024) was a British jazz drummer. He recorded on over 100 albums and was a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He was sponsored by Paiste cymbals. Life and career France began perf ...

, Matthew Sharp *2004: ''The Little Radio'' (Sound Recordings) ;With

Kaizers Orchestra Kaizers Orchestra is a Norwegian alternative rock band formed in Bergen on 1 January 2000. They are notable for being among the first non- black-metal Norwegian artists singing in their native language to become popular beyond Scandinavia. In 20 ...

*2001: '' Ompa Til Du Dør'' (Broiler Farm) ;Within

Børre Dalhaug Børre Dalhaug (born 29 April 1974 in Ålesund, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums), music arranger and music instructor. Career Dalhaug has worked as a musician since 1995 and done around 800 concerts with bands like The Real Thing ( ...

's «Bigbandblast» *2004: '' Bigbandblast!'' (Real Records) ;Duo with

Jimmy Rosenberg Joseph "Jimmy" Rosenberg (born 10 April 1980) is a Dutch Sinto- Romani guitarist known for his virtuoso playing of gypsy jazz. Music career A cousin of Stochelo Rosenberg, Jimmy Rosenberg started playing guitar when he was seven years old. Two ...

*2005: ''Rose Room'' (

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 35 ...

) ;With

Eldbjørg Raknes Eldbjørg Raknes (born 9 February 1970 in Midsund Municipality, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist known for her a cappella vocal performances, innovative improvised vocals and electronic effects. She has collaborated with musicians such as Jo ...

*2005: ''Små Sanger Mest I Det Blå'' (Bergland Productions), including with

Siri Gjære Siri Gjære (born 1 February 1972 in Trondheim, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist from Levanger Municipality, known for her collaborations with musicians like Tord Gustavsen, Stian Carstensen, Eirik Hegdal, Maria Kannegaard, Jarle Bernhoft ...

;With

Mathias Eick Mathias Eick (born 26 June 1979) is a Norwegian jazz musician, and the brother of the jazz musicians Johannes Eick and Trude Eick. He is mainly known from his releases on the jazz label ECM Records. His main instrument is the trumpet, but he als ...

*2007: '' The Door'' (

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's a ...

) ;With

Tora Augestad Tora Karen Elisabeth Augestad (born 10 December 1979) is a Norwegian mezzosoprano, musical conductor and actor. One of Norway's most established classical singers, she focuses on jazz, musical theater, contemporary music, and cabaret. Her stag ...

Music for a While "Music for a While" is a da capo aria for voice (usually soprano or tenor), harpsichord and bass viol by the English Baroque music, Baroque composer Henry Purcell. Based on a repeating ground bass pattern, it is the second of four Movement (musi ...

including

, Martin Taxt and Pål Hausken *2007: ''Weill Variations'' ( Grappa Music) *2012: ''Graces That Refrain'' (Grappa Music) *2014: ''Canticles of Winter'' (Grappa Music) ;With

Alexander Rybak Alexander Igorevich Rybak (; born 13 May 1986) or Alyaksandr Iharavich Rybak () is a Belarusian-born Norwegian musician and actor. Based in Oslo, Norway, Rybak extensively worked on television programs and on tours in Europe, particularly in S ...

& Mats Paulson *2011: ''Visa Vid Vindens Ängar'' ( Grappa Music) (in Norwegian) ;With Gammalgrass *2013: ''Obsolete Music 1'' (Division Records)

References

External links

Stian Carstensen Biography
on

official website
Stian Carstensen potpurri
on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Farmer's Market II
on YouTube
Farmers Market - Steroid Train Trip (live, 2008)
on YouTube
Kirsti Huke & Stian Carstensen - A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (JazzLAB)
on

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carstensen, Stian 1971 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian guitarists 20th-century Norwegian accordionists 21st-century Norwegian accordionists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians 21st-century Norwegian male musicians 20th-century Norwegian multi-instrumentalists 21st-century Norwegian multi-instrumentalists 21st-century Norwegian pianists 21st-century Norwegian violinists Norwegian jazz accordionists Norwegian jazz guitarists Norwegian jazz pianists Norwegian mandolinists Norwegian violinists Banjoists Bagpipe players Norwegian male violinists Crossover (music) Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni Musicians from Eidsvoll Farmers Market (band) members Music for a While (band) members Norwegian male jazz pianists