Jarle Bernhoft (; Jarle Norman Bernhoft-Sjødin; born 21 June 1976), known professionally as Bernhoft (often stylized as Bern/hoft), is a Norwegian singer, multi-instrumentalist, composer and lyricist. Bernhoft is from Nittedal in Norway. His best known songs are "Streetlights", " Shout" (a Tears for Fears cover), "Choices", "C'mon Talk" and "Stay With Me". He has also been in a number of bands, notably Explicit Lyrics and

Span Span may refer to: Science, technology and engineering * Span (unit), the width of a human hand * Span (engineering), a section between two intermediate supports * Wingspan, the distance between the wingtips of a bird or aircraft * Sorbitan es ...

. In June 2014 he appeared for the first time at the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

and was featured by BBC One in a special performance of his song "Wind You Up." In December 2014, it was announced that his album ''Islander'' was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album for the 2015 Grammy Awards ceremony, held on 8 February 2015. His nomination is remarkable, as he was the first non-American artist to have been nominated in the 20 year-history of this US-dominated category. In a response to his nomination, Bernhoft stated that "Grammy has spoken. I make R&B music."

With bands

;in Explicit Lyrics Hailing from Nittedal, Bernhoft attended Rud Upper Secondary School in Bærum where he joined the musical scene. Bernhoft, alongside Fridtjof "Joff" Nilsen, were members of Explicit Lyrics. Within a span of three years, the band released three albums, Fleshpulse (1996), Flow (1997) and ''Lipshave'' (1998). ;Span After the breakup of Explicit Lyrics, Bernhoft, a vocalist and songwriter, and guitarist Nilsen joined drummer Fredrik Wallumrød and bassist Vemund Stavnes to form the band

. After two EPs, ''Baby's Come Back'' (2002) and Found (2003), SPAN had two successful albums, ''

Mass Distraction ''Mass Distraction'' is the debut album by Span (band), Span and features 11 main tracks and 1 bonus track . The album was produced by Gil Norton (who also produced albums by The Pixies). Their song "Baby's Come Back" appeared in several video g ...

'' (2004) and ''

Vs. Time ''Vs. Time'' is the second album by Span and features 11 tracks. The band decided to produce the album themselves, unlike their first album ''Mass Distraction ''Mass Distraction'' is the debut album by Span (band), Span and features 11 main ...

'' (2005). The band broke up in 2005. ;Other collaborations Bernhoft has contributed on a number of recordings and concerts with mostly Norwegian artists, such as Hanne Hukkelberg,

Dadafon Dadafon (established in 1995 in Trondheim, Norway) was a Norwegian experimental jazz band, originally called Coloured Moods (name changed in 2000), initiated by drummer Martin Smidt, and including Kristin Asbjørnsen (vocals), Carl Haakon Waadela ...

, Bigbang and The Køhn/Johansen Sextet. He also played in the band Green Granadas using the

stage name A stage name is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. Such professional aliases are adopted for a wide variety of reasons and they may be similar, or nearly identical, to an individu ...

Rod Hot.

Solo

Nobel Peace Prize Concert 2011 Bernhoft Harry Wad

He released his first solo album ''Ceramik City Chronicles'' on 1 September 2008. In January 2010 Bernhoft released a double live album called ''1:Man 2:Band'', where one half is a recording from his solo show at a jazz café in Oslo (Kampen Bistro), and the other half is a recording from his concerts in Rockefeller and

Molde Jazz Festival Molde International Jazz Festival (MIJF) or Moldejazz (established 1961 in Molde) 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 1964 it has rec ...

with a full band. His second solo album, ''Solidarity Breaks'', was released the next year in January 2011. It topped the VG-lista,. the Norwegian Albums Chart for a total of seven weeks (in July, August and September 2011). The album was credited to Bern/hoft rather than his full name Jarle Bernhoft. He was also credited as Bern/hoft in his 2014 follow-up album ''Islanders'' that also topped the VG-lista chart in May 2014.

In popular culture

In September 2011, Bernhoft appeared on '' The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' after producers of the show found his video on YouTube. While on the show he played his song "C'mon Talk". In July 2013, and again in June 2014, he was featured as a musical guest on " Conan" on TBS.

Discography

Albums

With Explicit Lyrics *1996: ''Fleshpulse''(EP) *1998: ''Lipshave'' With

*2004: ''

'' *2005: ''

'' With Børre Dalhaug's Bigbandblast *2004: '' Bigbandblast!'' (Real Records) Solo (studio) Solo (Live)

Singles

;With Span *2002: "Baby's Come Back" *2002: "On My Way Down" *2003: "Found" *2004: "Don't Think the Way They Do" *2005: "Cut Like Diamonds" ;Solo *2008: "Streetlights" *2008: "Sunday" *2009: "Fly Away" *2011: "C'mon Talk" *2011: "Choices" *2012: "Stay with Me" *2012: " Shout" (France: #187) *2014: "Come Around" (France: #181) *2015: "Everyone's A Stranger" *2016: "We Have a Dream" *2021: "Say It Isn't So" *2021: "C'mon Talk V2" *2021: "Call out Kids" *2021: "Clearly Confused" *2021: "All My Loving"

References

External links

Official website

Bernhoft biography in The Guardian

- October 2010
Bernhoft on Ronnie Scott's radio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernhoft, Jarle 1976 births 20th-century Norwegian male singers 21st-century Norwegian male singers 21st-century Norwegian singers Norwegian musicians Scandinavian musicians Norwegian rock singers Norwegian jazz singers Norwegian songwriters Norwegian jazz guitarists Norwegian rock guitarists Norwegian male guitarists Norwegian male bass guitarists Living people People from Nittedal Neo soul singers English-language singers from Norway Norwegian expatriates in the United States 20th-century Norwegian bass guitarists 21st-century Norwegian guitarists 21st-century Norwegian bass guitarists Male jazz musicians