Harald Lassen
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Harald Lassen (born March 13, 1987, in
Kristiansand, Norway Kristiansand is a city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality is the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 116,000 as of January 2020, following th ...
) is a Norwegian jazz musician, songwriter, and bandleader. In addition to being the front man of LASSEN, he has played with several other bands, including DUPLEX,
Mopti Mopti (Fulfulde: Mobti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confluence of the ...
(with Bendik Baksaas on the album Bits & Pieces), Pixel, and No. 4. Early on, he was drawn to the attention of musicians like drummer Jon Christensen and bassist
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 ...
.


Career

Harald Lassen grew up in
Greipstad Greipstad is a former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1913 until its dissolution in 1964 when it became part of Songdalen municipality. The administrative centre of the municipality was the vil ...
, Norway's
Songdalen Songdalen is a List of former municipalities of Norway, former municipality in the old Vest-Agder county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1964 until 2020 when it was merged with Søgne and Kristiansand municipalities to form a new, much la ...
. He studied to become a saxophonist after spending many years as a pianist. Lassen studied from 2006 to 2007 at Toneheim Folkehøgskole and from 2007 to 2008 at the Institutt for Rytmisk Musikk at Universitetet i Agder. From 2008 to 2012, he undertook additional training at the Norwegian Academy of Music in jazz and improvised music. Lassen has collaborated with African musicians and dancers from
Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...
,
Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...
,
Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...
,
Mozambique Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique, is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini and South Afr ...
, and
Uganda Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
. He later relocated to
Zanzibar Zanzibar is a Tanzanian archipelago off the coast of East Africa. It is located in the Indian Ocean, and consists of many small Island, islands and two large ones: Unguja (the main island, referred to informally as Zanzibar) and Pemba Island. ...
in 2013 for a three-month stay in order to teach and start a jazz program at Dhow Countries Music Academy for young musicians. Lassen has also worked with the following people:
Rob Waring Rob Waring (born December 3, 1956, in Yonkers, New York) is an American-Norwegian Contemporary music composer and performer (drums and vibraphone), commonly associated with symphony orchestras and jazz ensembles. Career Waring studied with Ro ...
, Mathias Eick,
Ray Phiri Raymond Chikapa Enock Phiri (23 March 1947 – 12 July 2017) was a South African jazz, fusion and mbaqanga musician born in Mpumalanga to Thabethe Phiri, a Malawian immigrant worker, and South African guitarist nicknamed "Just Now" Phiri. He ...
, Mohamed Issa Matona, LABtrio, Corrie Dick, Arthur Kay, Tord Gustavsen, Morten Qvenild, Emilie Stoesen Christensen,
Anja Lauvdal Anja Lauvdal (born 1987 in Flekkefjord (town), Flekkefjord, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (piano and keyboards) and composer. Career Lauvdal studied music on the Jazz program at Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet, Trondheim ...
, and Bram De Looze. Lassen joined the Oslo Jazzfestival's board in 2015.


Honors

*2012: "This year's young jazz musicians", the Jazzintro award at
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 ...
, within
Mopti Mopti (Fulfulde: Mobti) is a town and an urban commune in the Inner Niger Delta region of Mali. The town is the capital of the Mopti Cercle and the Mopti Region. Situated 630 km northeast of Bamako, the town lies at the confluence of the ...
*2013: Featured at Young Nordic Jazz Comets within
Pixel In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a Raster graphics, raster image, or the smallest addressable element in a dot matrix display device. In most digital display devices, p ...


Discography

Source: * 2009: Team Båt - ''På Lag'' (Mudi) * 2010: Martin Rane Bauck - ''Suite For A Distant Present Time'' (Bauckstadt) * 2012: Andrea Kvintett - ''Andrea Kvintett'' (NorCD) * 2012: Bendik Baksaas - ''The Shape of Beats To Come'' (Dayladore Collective), feat. on «Nobody Will Laugh» * 2012: Ronja - ''Il Calebrone'' (Havtorn Records) * 2012: Pixel - ''Reminder'' (Cuneiform Records) * 2013: Dr Kay And His Interstellar Tone Scientists - ''Dr. Kay and the search for true happiness'' (Brass&Bangle) * 2013: Andrea Kvintett - ''Russian Dream (NorCD)'' * 2013: Duplex - ''Sketches Of …'' (NorCD) * 2013: Duplex - ''Duolia'' (NorCD) * 2013: Pixel -  ''We Are All Small Pixels'' (Cuneiform Records) * 2013: Mopti - ''Logic'' (Jazzland Recordings) * 2014: Sjøen - ''Live 1'' (Havtorn Records) * 2015: Duplex - ''Èn'' (NorCD) * 2015: Mopti - ''Bits & Pieces'' (Jazzland Recordings), feat. Bendik Baksaas * 2015: Pixel - ''Golden Years'' (Cuneiform Records) * 2016: No. 4 - ''Henda i været'' (Arch Rec) * 2017: No. 4 - Hva Nå (Arch Rec) * 2018: Matonas Afdhal Group - Matonas Afdhal Group (OK World) * 2019: No. 4 - Duell (Samkjørt) * 2016: Harald Lassen & Lab Trio - ''Rainbow Session'' (Hagen Recordings) * 2018: LASSEN - Eventyrer (Jazzland Recordings) * 2019: LASSEN feat. various artists - Remix-Eventyr (Jazzland Recordings) * 2020: Human Samling * 2023: Balans


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lassen, Harald Norwegian Academy of Music alumni Avant-garde jazz musicians Norwegian jazz saxophonists Norwegian jazz composers Norwegian male jazz composers NorCD artists Cuneiform Records artists Jazzland Recordings (1997) artists Musicians from Vest-Agder 1987 births Living people 21st-century Norwegian saxophonists 21st-century Norwegian male musicians Mopti (band) members Pixel (band) members