Knut Værnes (born 1 April 1954) is a Norwegian

jazz musician This is a list of jazz musicians by instrument based on existing articles on Wikipedia. Do not enter names that lack articles. Do not enter names that lack sources. Accordion * Kamil Běhounek (1916–1983) * Luciano Biondini (born 1971) * Asm ...

(

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

band leader A bandleader is the leader of a music group such as a dance band, rock or pop band or jazz quartet. The term is most commonly used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhyth ...

, known from several recordings in the

jazz rock Jazz fusion (also known as jazz rock, jazz-rock fusion, or simply fusion) is a popular music Music genre, genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and jazz improvisation, improvisation with rock music, funk, a ...

genre. He grew up at

Bøler Bøler () is a south-eastern suburb of Oslo, Norway. It is one of the more picturesque areas of Oslo. Østmarka forest and lake Nøklevann are in its immediate vicinity. Infrastructure-wise, it has a shopping cente two elementary schools, a pub ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, where he became an accomplished guitarist.

Career

Værnes was born 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 ...

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 ...

. He is a graduate from the University of Oslo and has attended master classes at the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

, and played within

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

and

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

bands like «Salt & Pepper», «Shimmy», and the fusion band «Vanessa» with the record release ''City Lips'' (1975). Then musical studies in

and

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

brought him on to the Norwegian jazz scene with albums like ''Anatomy of the guitar'' (1979), in collaboration with his guitar teacher

Jon Eberson Jon Arild Eberson (born 6 January 1953) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer, the son of jazz guitarist Leif Eberson (1925–1970), and the father of keyboardist Marte Maaland Eberson. He was a member of the bands Moose Loose (1973–77), ...

, within

Nils Petter Molvær Nils Petter Molvær (), also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960), is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and electronic music, best showcased on his most ...

's funk band «Punktum» and Håkon Graf's «Graffiti». In the 1980s, he studied with

John Scofield John Scofield (born December 26, 1951) is an American guitarist and composer. His music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention as part of the band of Miles Davis; he ...

at the

. Værnes led his own Trio and Quartet with co-musicians

Morten Halle Morten Halle (born 7 October 1957) is a Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone), composer and music arranger. He was born in Oslo, and he is known from the city's jazz scene and from a series recordings. (in Norwegian) Career Halle participated in ...

(saxophone), Edvard Askeland (bass) and Frank Jakobsen (drums). The Quartet continued as the band Cutting Edge resulting in four album releases. In duo with

Terje Gewelt Terje Gewelt (born 8 June 1960) is a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass). Career Gewelt was born in Oslo and raised in Larvik, a small town on the southeastern coast of Norway. He started playing guitar at the age of 10, switched to elect ...

bass was released ''Admission for guitars and basses'' (1992) with their own compositions. ''KVT'' (with Kim Ofstad drums and Frode Berg bass) released ''Jacques Tati'' (1995), and with

Danny Gottlieb Daniel Richard Gottlieb (born April 18, 1953) is an American drummer. He was a founding member of the Pat Metheny Group and was co-founder of Elements with Mark Egan. Biography Gottlieb was born in New York City on April 18, 1953. He took lesso ...

, drummer of

Pat Metheny Group The Pat Metheny Group was an American jazz band founded in 1977 by guitarist and composer Pat Metheny, along with his core collaborating member, keyboardist and composer Lyle Mays. Other long-standing members included bassist and producer Steve ...

as substitute for Ofstad, ''«8:97»'' (1997) as well as ''Super Duper'' (1999). Knut Værnes Band (Morten Halle,

, Rune Arnesen og Gewelt) released ''Roneo'' (1993). The guitar quartet composed of Knut Reiersrud, Bjørn Klakegg and

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 ...

released «4G» (2000). Værnes has participated on numerous recordings in different genres, including Geirr Lystrup's ''Songen om kjærleika'' (1980), ''Etterlatte sanger'' (1986)together with

Sidsel Endresen Sidsel Endresen (born 19 June 1952) is a Norwegian singer, composer, and actress. She was part of the Jon Eberson group. Since 1987, Endresen has pursued a successful solo career, recording for ECM. Career Endresen was one of the most prom ...

and Jonas Fjeld,

Jan Eggum Jan Eggum (born 8 December 1951) is a Norwegian singer-songwriter. He has been characterized as a "face for the melancholy", and the themes in his songs often revolve around broken hearts, loneliness, and sorrow. Sometimes, his lyrics include s ...

's (''E.G.G.U.M.'' (1995) and ''Stilig'' (1986), and ''Gym'' (1997) with

Di Derre Di Derre is a Norwegian Pop rock band, founded in 1992. They were awarded the Gammleng-prisen in 1996. Band members *Jo Nesbø Jon "Jo" Nesbø (; born 29 March 1960) is a Norwegian novelist and musician. His books had sold over 50 million c ...

. In 2001 he was awarded

Gammleng-prisen The Gammleng Award () is a Norwegian culture award created by ''The Fund for Performing Artists'' in 1982, 25 years after the fund was established in 1957. The award's official name is the ''Rolf Gammleng award to performing artists'' (). It's awa ...

in the category jazz. His latest release is ''A night in the cassis'' (2004), where his music is arranged for the Vertavo String Quartet. Værnes trio played at the ''Trondheim Jazz Festival'' 2006, and recently he has cooperated with the Swedish double bassist

Lars Danielsson Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer. Biography Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...

. Værnes is co-owner of the music companies

Curling Legs __NOTOC__ Curling Legs Productions A/S (established 1992 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian record label with a catalogue encompassing all styles of jazz and improvised music. It was started by Knut Værnes and Morten Halle to release their own m ...

(1986- ) and Musikkoperatørene, members of FONO (the association for Norwegian independent record labels), sat as chairman of the Association of Norwegian Jazz Musicians for a period, and was chairman of the Committee for

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

. He also teaches at the Nordic Institute for Stage and Studio.

Honors

2001 in the category jazz

Discography

Solo albums

;Within ''Knut Værnes Band'' *1993: ''Roneo'' (

) *2013: ''Tributes'' (Curling Legs) ;Within ''Knut Værnes Trio'' ;Including Kim Ofstad (drums) and Frode Berg (bass) *1995: ''Jacques Tati'' (Curling Legs) ;Including

(drums) and Frode Berg (bass) *1997: ''«8:97»'' (Curling Legs) *1999: ''Super Duper'' (Curling Legs)

Collaborative works

;Within ''Vanessa'' *1975: ''City lips'' ;With

*1979: ''Anatomy of the guitar'' ;Within ''Cutting Edge'' *1982: ''Cutting Edge'' *1983: ''Our man in paradise'' *1986: ''Duesenberg'' ;Duo with

*1992: ''Admission For Guitars And Basses'' (Curling Legs) ;With other projects *2000: ''4G'', with Frode Alnæs, Knut Reiersrud and Bjørn Klakegg *1980: ''Songen om kjærleika'', with Geirr Lystrup *1986: ''Etterlatte sanger'', with

and Jonas Fjeld *1986: ''Stilig'' (Single), with

*1985: ''E.G.G.U.M.'', with

*1997: ''Gym'', with

*2004: ''A night in Cassis'' (Curling Legs), with the Vertavo String Quartet

References

External links

Knut Værnes Biography - Store Norske LeksikonKnut Værnes official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaernes, Knut Living people 1954 births Musicians from Trondheim Norwegian jazz guitarists Jazz-pop guitarists Norwegian jazz composers Curling Legs artists Cutting Edge (band) members