Jon Larsen (born 7 January 1959) is a

gypsy jazz Gypsy jazz (also known as sinti jazz, gypsy swing, jazz manouche or hot club-style jazz) is a musical idiom inspired by the Romani people, Romani jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt, Jean "Django" Reinhardt (1910–1953), in conjunction with the Fr ...

guitarist, record producer, painter, and amateur scientific researcher. He is the founder of the group

Hot Club de Norvège Hot Club de Norvège is a string jazz quartet from Norway, established in 1979, by guitarist Jon Larsen with childhood friends Per Frydenlund and Svein Aarbostad. Biography They are influenced by the music of Hot Club de France, and the French ...

. In 2007 he received the Buddy Award for his lifelong contribution to

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 ...

Career

When he was in his early teens, he learned rock and soul songs on an acoustic steel-string guitar. Through friends, he learned about blues, jazz, flamenco, and classical guitar. After he heard "

Tears Tears are a clear liquid secreted by the lacrimal glands (tear gland) found in the eyes of all land mammals. Tears are made up of water, electrolytes, proteins, lipids, and mucins that form layers on the surface of eyes. The different types of ...

" by

Django Reinhardt Jean Reinhardt (23 January 1910 – 16 May 1953), known by his Romani people, Romani nickname Django ( or ), was a Belgium, Belgian-born Romani jazz guitarist and composer in France. He was one of the first major jazz talents to emerge in Europe ...

on the radio, he decided that this is how he wanted his guitar to sound. At seventeen he formed a string trio and had his first professional job. In the 1970s, Larsen worked mainly as a painter. He started the Hot Club de Norvege in 1980 with guitarists Per Frydenlund and bassist Svein Aarbostad. They had a hit record when they performed with pop singer

Lillebjørn Nilsen Lillebjørn Falk Nilsen (born Bjørn Falk Nilsen; 21 December 1950 – 27 January 2024) was a Norwegian singer-songwriter and folk musician. He was born in Oslo, and was considered by some to be the leading "voice of Oslo", thanks to numerous c ...

. Larsen started the label Zonic Entertainment to record musicians who have been influenced by

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

. He has worked with

Chet Baker Chesney Henry "Chet" Baker Jr. (December 23, 1929 – May 13, 1988) was an American jazz trumpeter and vocalist. He is known for major innovations in cool jazz that led him to be nicknamed the "Prince of Cool". Baker earned much attention and ...

Philip Catherine Philip Catherine (born 27 October 1942) is a Belgian jazz rock guitarist. Biography Philip Catherine was born in London, England, to an English mother and Belgian father, and was raised in Brussels, Belgium. His grandfather was a violinist i ...

Stéphane Grappelli Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the first all-string jazz bands. ...

Warne Marsh Warne Marion Marsh (October 26, 1927 – December 18, 1987) was an American tenor saxophonist. Born in Los Angeles, his playing first came to prominence in the 1950s as a protégé of pianist Lennie Tristano and earned attention in the 1970s as ...

Biréli Lagrène Biréli Lagrène (born 4 September 1966) is a French jazz guitarist who came to prominence in the 1980s for his Django Reinhardt–influenced style. He often performs in swing, jazz fusion, and post-bop styles. Biography Lagrène was born in S ...

Babik Reinhardt Jean-Jacques "Babik" Reinhardt (8 June 1944 – 13 November 2001) was a French guitarist and the younger son of jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. He was christened Jean-Jacques, but generally known by his family nickname, Babik. His elder half-br ...

and

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 ...

. He has produced more than 450 jazz records for the label he founded,

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 ...

. He has led a group of musicians who played with Zappa, including

Arthur Barrow Arthur Barrow (born February 28, 1952) is a multi-instrumental musician, best known for his stint as a bass guitar player for Frank Zappa in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Early life Barrow was born in San Antonio, Texas in 1952 and grew up in ...

Jimmy Carl Black James Inkanish, Jr. (February 1, 1938 – November 1, 2008), known professionally as Jimmy Carl Black, was an original member of the Mothers of Invention, providing drums and vocals. He is known for introducing the songs “ Are you Hung Up?” a ...

Bruce Fowler Bruce Lambourne Fowler (born July 10, 1947) is an American trombonist and composer. He played trombone on many Frank Zappa records, as well as with Captain Beefheart and in the Fowler Brothers Band. He composes and arranges music for movies, a ...

, Bunk Gardner,

Tommy Mars Tommy Mars (born Thomas Mariano on October 26, 1951) is an American keyboard player known for his work with Frank Zappa. Mars began piano lessons at age eight, and later his instrument range expanded to various keyboards and synthesizers. Mars ...

, and

Don Preston Donald Ward Preston (born September 21, 1932) is an American jazz and rock keyboardist. He is best known for being a member of the original version of Frank Zappa's band The Mothers of Invention during the late 1960s. He continued to work with Z ...

. They recorded the album '' Strange News from Mars''. ''Symphonic Django'' was released in 2008 by Storm Films, which also produced a documentary about Larsen and guitar virtuoso

titled ''Jon & Jimmy''. In 2012, the documentary won the Dutch

Edison Award The Edison Award is an annual Dutch music prize awarded for outstanding achievements in the music industry. It is comparable to the American Grammy Award. The Edison award itself is a bronze replica of a statuette of Thomas Edison, designed by ...

. After eight years of research, his book on

cosmic dust Cosmic dustalso called extraterrestrial dust, space dust, or star dustis dust that occurs in outer space or has fallen onto Earth. Most cosmic dust particles measure between a few molecules and , such as micrometeoroids (30 μm). Cosmic dust can ...

in urban environments – ''In Search of Stardust: Amazing Micro-Meteorites and Their Terrestrial Imposters'' – was published in 2017. In 2020, he appeared in

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...

's documentary film '' Fireball: Visitors from Darker Worlds'' where he demonstrated the methods of sampling micro-meteorites from urban environments.

Discography

As leader

* ''Guitar Sax Guitar & Bass'' (Hot Club, 1985) * ''Superstrings'' (Hot Club, 1992) * ''Jon Larsen & Pascal De Loutchek'' (Hot Club, 1994) * ''Guitaresque'' with Pascal De Loutchek, Stian Mevik (Hot Club, 1994) * ''The Swinging Guitar of Jon Larsen'' (Hot Club, 1995) * ''The Next Step'' (Hot Club, 2003) * ''Vertavo Live in Concert'' (Hot Club, 2006) * ''Short Stories from Catalonia'' (Hot Club, 2006) * '' Strange News from Mars'' (Zonic, 2007) * '' The Jimmy Carl Black Story'' (Zonic, 2008) * ''Willie Nickersons Egg'' (Hot Club, 2009) * ''No Man's Land'' (Hot Club, 2024) With Hot Club de Norvege * ''String Swing'' (Herman, 1981) * ''Old, New, Borrowed & Blue'' (Hot Club, 1982) * ''Gloomy'' (Hot Club, 1984) * ''Swing de Paris'' (Hot Club, 1986) * ''La Roue Fleurie'' (Hot Club, 1992) * ''Vertavo'' (Hot Club, 1995) * ''Moreno'' (Hot Club, 1999) * ''Swinging with Vertavo, Angelo & Jimmy'' (Hot Club, 2001) * ''White Night Stories'' (Hot Club, 2002) * ''A Stranger in Town'' (Hot Club, 2003) * ''Django Music'' (Hot Club, 2008) * ''

A Portrait of Jon Larsen ''A Portrait of Jon Larsen'' is a compilation album by Norwegian jazz guitarist Jon Larsen that was released on his label, Hot Club Records. Review Larsen is celebrated on this album, which collects his best recordings from the past twenty y ...

'' (2009)

As sideman

* Lillebjorn Nilsen, ''Original Nilsen'' (Studio B, 1982) * Lillebjorn Nilsen, ''Hilsen Nilsen'' (Grappa, 1985) *

Ole Paus Ole Paus (1947–2023) was a Norwegian singer-songwriter and poet, widely regarded as one of the most innovative Norwegian musical figures of the 20th century and "Norway's most significant troubadour at the time of his death." Emerging during t ...

, ''Pausposten Extra!'' (Norsk 1996) *

, ''Django's Tiger'' (Hot Club, 2003)

Books

* ''Maler I Solnedgang'' (Painter in the Sunset) – 2009 * ''Norske Meteoritter'' – 2014 * ''Zappa I Norge'' – 2015 * ''In Search of Stardust'' – 2016 (translated to Japanese, Chinese, Norwegian) * ''Robert Normann - Tusenkunstneren fra Sundløkka'' – 2016 * ''Star Hunter'' – 2017 * ''Hot Club de Norvège 1979-2019'' – 2019 * ''On the Trail of Stardust'' – 2019 * ''Atlas of Micrometeorites'' – 2020 * ''How To Find Stardust'' – 2021 * ''A Life In Pictures'' – 2023

Film

* ''Symphonic Django'' – Storm Studio – 2007 * ''Jon & Jimmy'' – Storm Studio – 2010, Winner of the Dutch

2010 * ''Fireball'' – Werner Herzog – 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Larsen, Jon Norwegian guitarists Norwegian male guitarists 20th-century Norwegian painters 21st-century Norwegian painters Norwegian male painters Norwegian record producers Hot Club Records artists Gypsy jazz guitarists Musicians from Bærum 1959 births Living people Norwegian male jazz musicians 20th-century Norwegian male artists 21st-century Norwegian male artists