Nils-Olav Johansen (born 12 April 1966 in

Bjugn Municipality Bjugn is a former municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1853 until its dissolution in 2020 when it was merged into Ørland Municipality. It was part of the Fosen region. The village of Botngård was the admini ...

, Norway) is a major Norwegian entertainer and jazz musician (guitar and vocals), known from several recordings and as orchestra leader. He is with Jarle Vespestad (drums) and Stian Carstensen (many instruments), central members of the Balkan-jazz orchestra

Farmers Market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

. Johansen is from

Sør-Trøndelag Sør-Trøndelag (; ) was a Counties of Norway, county comprising the southern portion of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Nord-Trøndelag () county as well as the counties of Møre og Romsdal, Oppland, and Hedmark. ...

, where he eventually moved to Heimdal. His father was a sailor, and he had an early contact with Hawaiian music. This influence, from the floating string sound, has followed him throughout his musical career.

Career

He was a graduate of jazz studies at Trøndelag Conservatory of Music 1986–88. 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 ...

, he joined several groups that arose out of student life at NTNU, such as Close Enough (1987–88) and the

Pentateuch The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () o ...

(from 1989, later called Blix Band). Since 1992, he has been a regular member of three major orchestras:

, Frode Fjellheims Jazz Joik Ensemble and "Storytellers", and has also had guest appearances with numerous other bands, such as "Veslefrekk", "Embla", Trondheim Jazz Orchestra and with

Ståle Storløkken Ståle Storløkken (born 22 February 1969 in Dombås, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (keyboards, organ and piano) and composer, known for collaborations with artists like Terje Rypdal, BigBang, Supersilent and Motorpsycho. Store Norske ...

. Since 1991 he has contributed to dozens of recordings, with among others

, Blix Band, "TINGeLING" (Tinkerbell), "Dingobats", Transjoik (here also as a composer and producer), " Køhn/Johansen Sextet", Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, "The Core". He has led his own trio with Harald Johnsen (bass) and

Sverre Gjørvad Sverre Gjørvad (born 26 October 1966 in Stathelle, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (drums) and composer. He is known for participating in establishing the SoddJazz festival and recording with various notable musicians including Live Maria ...

(percussion). Johansen has been a guest professor at the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, at the request of

Django Bates Django Bates (born Leon Bates, 2 October 1960) is a British jazz musician, composer, multi-instrumentalist, band leader and educator. He plays the piano, keyboards and the tenor horn. Bates has been described as "one of the most talented musici ...

. His distinctive vocals and guitar playing, ever with elements from the Finnish and

Eastern European Eastern Europe is a subregion of the European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountains, and ...

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

, make Johansen an easily recognizable artist. Johansen has been, along with Stian Carstensen, one of the profiles in the band Farmers Market. It impresses him with virtuosity and humor. He made notable by its collaboration with Sigurd Køhn in Køhn/Johansen Sextet, a collaboration that ended in 2004, when the

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

struck

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, where Køhn was on vacation. In 2005, he became a permanent member of the Anglo-Norwegian band ''Food''. In spring 2012, Johansen vent to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and the Jazz Utsav-festival with his own quartet put together for the occasion. It is a band consisting of the drummer Thomas Strønen, bassist

Ole Morten Vågan Ole Morten Vågan (born 8 May 1979) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz musician and composer (double bass, upright bass), and the older brother of guitarist Petter Vågan. He is known from several recordings and is currently acting as artistic dir ...

and saxophonist Knut Riisnæs in addition to Johansen.

Discography

Solo albums

*''My Deal'' (2007, Jazzaway), with: Andreas Bye, Mats Eilertsen and Reidar Skår)

Collaborative works

;With Køhn/Johansen Sextet *''Woman's Got to Have It'' (1999, Real), with Sigurd Køhn, Roy Powell, Harald Johnsen, Erlend Gjerde & Jarle Vespestad *''Angels'' (1999, Real), with Sigurd Køhn, Roy Powell, Harald Johnsen, Ole Johan Myklebust, Jørgen Munkeby and Jarle Vespestad + Even Skatrud Andersen, Hallgrim Berg, Heine Totland, Torbjørn A. Raae, and others) ;With

( Stian Carstensen, Trifon Trifonov, Finn Guttormsen & Jarle Vespestad) *''Speed/Balkan/Boogie'' (1995, Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *''Musikk fra Hybridene (Music From The Hybrides)'' (1997, Kirkelig Kulturverksted) *2000: ''

'' (Winter & Winter) *2008: ''Surfin' USSR'' (Ipecac/Tuba) *2012: ''Slav to the Rhythm'' (Division) ;With Frode Fjellheims Jazz Joik Ensemble *1994: ''Saajve dans'' Under the name Transjoik *2004: ''Uja nami'' *2005: ''Bewafá'' ;With

Storytellers Storyteller, story teller, or story-teller may refer to: * A person who does storytelling Arts and entertainment Film *'' Oidhche Sheanchais'', also called ''The Storyteller''; 1935 Irish short film * '' Narradores de Javé'' (''Storytellers'') ...

*1994: ''Enjoy Storytellers'' (

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 ...

) ;With Blix Band *1989: ''Big Bambus'' (1989/2001) *1996: ''På en lyserød sky'' *1997: ''Pinseria'' (1997/2010) *1998: ''Texas'' ;With Håvard Lund *1995: ''Letters'' ;With Niels Præstholm & Embla Nordic Project in

København Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

*1997: ''Imagic'' ;With

Eldbjørg Raknes Eldbjørg Raknes (born 9 February 1970 in Midsund Municipality, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz vocalist known for her a cappella vocal performances, innovative improvised vocals and electronic effects. She has collaborated with musicians such as Jo ...

' TINGeLING *1997: ''TINGeLING'' *2002: ''So much depends upon a red wheel barrow'', commissioned to

Vossajazz Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year. The festival has been led by ...

(Platearbeiderne) *2006: ''I live suddenly'' (My Recordings) ;With Jon Balke *1998: ''Saturation'' ;With Solveig Slettahjell *2001: ''Slow motion orchestra'' ;With Christina Bjordal *2003: ''Where dreams begin'' *2009: ''Warrior of light'' ;Within Børre Dalhaug's "Bigbandblast" *2004: '' Bigbandblast!'' (Real Records) ;With

Eirik Hegdal Eirik Hegdal (born 3 October 1973 in Gjøvik, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian Jazz musician (saxophone), composer, arranger and music teacher, known from the band Dingobats (1995-2005) and as leader of Trondheim Jazz Orchestra (from 2002). Ca ...

*2004: ''Within Trondheim Jazz Orchestra'' ;With

The Core ''The Core'' is a 2003 American science fiction disaster film directed by Jon Amiel and starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Stanley Tucci, D. J. Qualls, Richard Jenkins, Tcheky Karyo, Bruce Greenwood, and Alfre Woodard. ...

*2005: ''The Core'' ;With Trondheim Jazz Orchestra *2008: ''Wood and water'' *2009: ''What if''

References

External links

Farmers Market WebsiteJohansen, Nils Olav – Biography in Ballade (in Norwegian)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Johansen, Nils-Olav 1966 births 20th-century Norwegian guitarists 21st-century Norwegian guitarists 20th-century Norwegian male singers 20th-century Norwegian singers 21st-century Norwegian male singers 21st-century Norwegian singers Norwegian jazz guitarists Norwegian jazz singers Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni Musicians from Bjugn Living people Farmers Market (band) members Trondheim Jazz Orchestra members Storytellers (Norwegian band) members TINGeLING members