The Core (established 1999 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 ...

) is a Norwegian

Jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

, known from a series of recordings. It was initiated by the drummer Espen Aalberg, and are performing music in the Coltrane/ Shorter tradition. (in Norwegian)

Biography

Their musical expression are rooted in African-American music, with a touch of funk and rock. After releasing the album ''Vision'' (2004), with music inspired by

Pharoah Sanders Pharoah Sanders (born Ferrell Lee Sanders; October 13, 1940 – September 24, 2022) was an American jazz saxophonist. Known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on the saxophone, as well as his use of "sheets of sound", San ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

Albert Ayler Albert Ayler (; July 13, 1936 – November 25, 1970) was an American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer. After early experience playing rhythm and blues and bebop, Ayler began recording music during the free jazz era of the 1960s. Ho ...

and

John Coltrane John William Coltrane (September 23, 1926 – July 17, 1967) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the Jazz#Post-war jazz, history of jazz and 20th-century musi ...

, (by Tor Hammerø, in Norwegian) they followed up with ''Blue sky'' (2006), with music composed by

Steinar Raknes Steinar Raknes (born 22 March 1975) is a Norwegian jazz bassist, composer, and the younger brother of Jazz singer and pianist Eldbjørg Raknes. He is considered to be one of the most talented double bass players of his generation in Norway, an ...

and Espen Aalberg, and some guitar contributions by

Nils-Olav Johansen Nils-Olav Johansen (born 12 April 1966 in Bjugn Municipality, 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 ...

. The Core has made their presence at most of the Norwegian Jazz festivals, where they have been joined by a number of guest soloists, such as James Carter, Jonas Kullhammar, Per Johansson and

Håkon Kornstad Håkon Games Kornstad (born 5 April 1977 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, flute and live looping) and classically trained singer (tenor), known from bands such as Wibutee and Kornstad Trio, and co ...

. They were also broadcast on

EBU The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; , UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations in countries within the European Broadcasting Area (EBA) or who are member states of the Council of Europe, members of the ...

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

(2004). On request from the Norwegian

Rikskonsertene Concerts Norway () was established in 1967 on the initiative of the Arts Council Norway (), with its main purpose described as follows: "Concerts Norway is to make living music of high artistic quality accessible to all people in the country." The ...

and Utenriksdepartementet, they toured

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 ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

and

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

in 2005. This project was later presented to a Norwegian audience through a cultural exchange tour organized by Rikskonsertene a year later. Participants on both tours were the Indian musicians Fateh Ali (sitar and vocals), Prasanjit Mitra (tablas) and Kanchman Babbar (flute), and released on thealbum ''The Indian Core'' (2007). (in Norwegian)

Band members

* Espen Aalberg –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

Jørgen Mathisen Jørgen Mathisen (born 27 December 1984 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegians, Norwegian jazz musician (saxophone and clarinet), the younger brother of Martin Mathisen (b. 1978), and known from different bands, and a series of recordings with musici ...

–

saxophones The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

Erlend Slettevoll Erlend Slettevoll (born 1981) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, known from cooperation with musicians like Ola Kvernberg, Petter Wettre, Heidi Skjerve, Kjetil Møster, Steinar Raknes and Espen Aalberg. Career Slettevoll is a graduate of the jazz p ...

–

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

–

double bass The double bass (), also known as the upright bass, the acoustic bass, the bull fiddle, or simply the bass, is the largest and lowest-pitched string instrument, chordophone in the modern orchestra, symphony orchestra (excluding rare additions ...

Discography

*2004: ''Vision'' (

Jazzaway Jazzaway is a Norwegian record label founded by saxophonist Jon Klette in Oslo, Norway. He is also the main composer/leader in the band Jazzmob. Their CD ''Pathfinder'' (2003) was the first release from the label. The label includes artists ...

) *2006: ''Blue Sky'' (Jazzaway) *2007: ''Office Essentials'' ( Jazzland) *2007: ''Meditations On Coltrane'' (Grappa), with

Bergen Big Band Bergen Big Band (BBB) is a Norwegian big band established 1991 as a continuation of Knut Kristiansen's Bergen Band. BBB is known from cooperations with musicians like Phil Woods, Paquito D'Rivera, Joe Henderson, Maria Schneider, Diana Krall, Sis ...

*2007: ''The Indian Core'' (

Grappa Grappa is an alcoholic beverage: a fragrant, grape-based pomace brandy of Italian origin that contains 35 to 60 percent alcohol by volume (70 to 120 Alcohol proof, US proof). Grappa is a protected name in the European Union. Grappa is made by ...

) *2008: ''Golonka Love'' (Moserobie) *2009: ''The Art of No return'' (Moserobie) *2010: ''Party'' (Moserobie)

References

External links

The Core Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Core, The Norwegian composers Norwegian jazz ensembles Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups from Trondheim Jazzaway Records artists 1999 establishments in Norway