Ola Mathias Calmeyer (14 April 1930 - 5 June 2003) was a Norwegian jazz

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. He was the brother of the actor

Joachim Calmeyer Kåre Joachim Calmeyer (23 June 1931 – 26 December 2016) was a Norwegian actor. He was born in Oslo, and grew up in Horten and Tromsø. He was the brother of jazz musician Ola and journalist Bengt Calmeyer. He made his stage debut at Rogaland ...

and the author Bengt Calmeyer, and known from a number of collaborations and album releases.

Biography

Calmeyer was born in

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 ...

. After growing up in

Horten Horten () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Jarlsberg. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Horten (town) ...

, he became part of the city's jazz scene (1949–53). He was in the

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

(1953–63), and performed in

Vestfold Vestfold () is a county and a current electoral district in Norway. Located on the western shore of the Oslofjord, it borders Buskerud and Telemark counties. The county administration is located in Tønsberg, Norway's oldest city, and the larg ...

(1963–75), where he established Urijazz in

Tønsberg Tønsberg (), historically Tunsberg, is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Tønsberg Municipality in Vestfold county, Norway. It is located about south-southwest of the capital city of Oslo on the western coast of the Oslofjord near ...

among other things. After moving to

and becoming a central part of the jazz scene there (1975–1990) he performed with the house orchestra at Club 7, Winds Hot & Cool, as well as bands led by Brinck Johnsen, Alf Kjellman Ditlef Eckhoff, Paul Weeden, Odd Riisnæs, and

Carl Magnus Neumann Carl Magnus Neumann, also known as Calle (31 July 1944 in Oslo, Norway), is a noted saxophonist, considered one of the best in Norway. Biography Neumann started playing the flute at an early age, before picking up the clarinet, playing with di ...

. There after he established his own label Jazzland in partnership with the jazz bassist Arne Styhr, whereupon he gave him out plate with his own band "Mallorcatrio" with

Ole Jacob Hansen Ole Jacob Hansen (16 April 1940 – 6 March 2000) was a Norwegian jazz musician (drums), known from a number recordings and international cooperation. Career Hansen was born in Oslo, and first established himself on the Oslo jazz scene in To ...

on drums and

Terje Venaas Terje Venaas (30 March 1947 – April 2025) was a Norwegian jazz musician (upright bass), known from dozens of recordings and a number of international collaborations. Life and career Venaas started playing music within several local bands in ...

/Kai Hartvigsen on upright bass, with contributions from his brother

, Ditlef Eckhoff, and Bjørn Johansen. Carl Petter Opsahl
Ola Calmeyer Prosjekt: «Jazzpoem»
anmeldelse fra VG (9.8.05) He also released the album ''Rainbow sessions'' with

Bjarne Nerem Bjarne Arnulf Nerem (31 July 1923 in Oslo, Norway – 1 April 1991 in Oslo), was a Norwegian jazz musician (tenor saxophone, alto saxophone and clarinet) among the foremost soloists in Norwegian jazz. He was in the tradition of Lester Young, ...

, Kristian Bergheim and Eyvind Olsen. More recently, he led a new version of the orchestra "Havna Swingers 95" (which he established in 1948-49) releasing an album, and collaborated with the poet Triztán Vindtorn. In a quartet with Jørn Winnæss,

Halvard Kausland Halvard Magne Kausland (25 April 1945 – 21 December 2017) was a Norwegian jazz guitarist and civil servant. Biography He hailed from Sund. He received his education from the ''Norges kommunal- og sosialhøgskole'', Agder Regional Coll ...

, and Kristen Svendsen released on two albums (1997, 2000).

Discography

Solo albums

* ''Jazzpoem'' (1990) * ''Jazz i blått spindelvev'' (1997) with Alexander Grieg, Geir Åge Johnsen and Jørn Winnæss * ''Fingersongs'' (1999) with Jørn Winnæss * ''Oleo!'' (2006) * ''Our Buddy'' (2010)

Other contributions

* Winds Hot & Cool: ''Nostalgia Up to Date'' (1984) * Kristian Bergheim/

: ''Rainbow sessions'' (1990) * Monica Borgen: ''Choice'' (1998) *

: ''Live at Kongsberg and Other Unreleased Works'' (2008)

References

External links

Biography at Jazzbasen.

Discography at Jazzbasen.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calmeyer, Ola 2003 deaths 1930 births Norwegian jazz pianists Musicians from Oslo 20th-century pianists