Beady Belle is a Norwegian jazz band founded by Beate S. Lech with her bassist and husband

Marius Reksjø Marius Julian Reksjø (born 3 October 1973 in Horten, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz musician (Double bass, upright bass), known from cooperation within Bugge Wesseltoft's Jazzland Community and the band Beady Belle with his wife Beate ...

, after having been encouraged to make a record by

Bugge Wesseltoft Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (born 1 February 1964) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer, and producer, son of jazz guitarist Erik Wesseltoft. Career In 1989, Wesseltoft collaborated with the Knut Riisnæs Quartet and was soon after ...

Jazzland Recordings Jazzland Recordings is a Norwegian jazz and improvised music label based in Oslo, Norway, often associated with nu jazz. It was founded in 1996 by pianist Bugge Wesseltoft to release his "New Conception of Jazz" and operate as a standalone label ...

Biography

Lech and Reksjø studied music together at the

University of Oslo The University of Oslo (; ) is a public university, public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation#Europe, oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick Univ ...

, and as music students they started several bands together. Their music flows in the landscape between

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 ...

and acid-jazz, using upbeat and downbeat

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

roots, using vocal harmonies,

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

, and strings. However, the music also incorporates elements of several other genres. From 2003, things really start to happen, both commercially and critically, and now Beady Belle is an internationally known band. After a concert in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

during a European tour in 2005, the UK jazz performer

Jamie Cullum Jamie Paul Joseph Cullum (born 20 August 1979) is an English jazz-pop singer, pianist, songwriter and radio presenter. Although primarily a vocalist and pianist, he also accompanies himself on other instruments, including guitar and drums. He h ...

came backstage to talk with the band. That meeting sparked a big tour over UK and some concerts in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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 ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

and

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, with Beady Belle as Cullum's supporting act. In 2008, they appeared at the

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Jazz Festival in Canada. The original band split up in 2015 but vocalist and songwriter Beate S. Lech has since released two albums under the name Beady Belle. Under the name Beady Belle, Lech participated in Melodi Grand Prix 2021 and attempted to represent Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest 2021 with the song "Playing With Fire". She did not qualify from Heat 1, and did not win in the Second Chance round.

Band members

* Beate S. Lech (vocals, composer) *

(bass, programming) * Erik Holm (drums)

Discography

* ''Home'' (Jazzland, 2001) * ''CEWBEAGAPPIC'' (Jazzland, 2003) * ''Closer'' (Jazzland, 2005) * ''Belvedere'' (Jazzland, 2008) * ''At Welding Bridge'' (Jazzland, 2010) * ''Cricklewood Broadway'' (Jazzland, 2013) * ''On My Own'' (Jazzland, 2016) * ''Dedication'' (Jazzland, 2018) * ''Nothing but the Truth'' (Jazzland, 2022)

References

External links

Official site
Jazzland Recordings (1997) artists Norwegian jazz ensembles Acid jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1999 1999 establishments in Norway Musical groups from Norway with local place of origin missing {{Jazz-band-stub