Damata

Torstein Slåen - Guitar

Karl Erik Horndalsveen - Bass

Ola Øverby - Drums


Damata is the Norwegian Instrumental Jazz variant of the adjective story. While the narrative remains consistent throughout the music, the shapes and forms it might take might vary extremely. Sometimes like an acoustic trio playing electronic music, other times like a shoegaze band, other times like an ambient orchestra - the gist of Damata remains in it's colourful music filled with impulsivity, humour, calmness, and a general joy of playing. Damata came out with their debut album 'What's Damata' in 2021 and their follow up 'Vannsklie' in 2023 whilst they currently labour away in the studio making their third album.

Tom Roger Aadland

Rock poet Tom Roger Aadland is one of Norway’s most critically acclaimed artists and songwriters the last years. His new album Skyer has received brilliant reviews. “Tom Roger Aadland is a musical treasure” hi-fi magazine Stereo+ writes. The Wilhelmsen describes the album as “vivid, honest, beautiful, strong and personal”, giving it six stars out of six. Øystein Rønning, music reviewer for Dagbladet, claims that the album is “rock solid” and “with brilliant lyrics”, calling it “an album that will be on many lists when the album of the year is to be voted”.

Aadland is also known for his translations and interpretations of Bob Dylan’s songs, with Blondt i blondt voted album of the year by Norwegian national radio show Norsk på norsk. He has also made his mark as a lyricist for Norwegian country rock favourites Hellbillies, folk rock pioneers Vamp and pop singer Marion Ravn. As a songwriter he is marked by a rare ability to write strong lyrics coupled with haunting melodies, and several of his songs have become radio hits. Norwegian listeners will recognise titles such as “Alle dei i ei”, “Like til mi dør” and “Min beste ven på ein dårleg dag”.

Tom Roger Aadland has been described as a “great lyricist” and an “exceptional tunesmith”, but he is also a solid and energetic performer with a unique ability to convey the content of a song. This year he celebrates twenty years as a performing artist, and his jubilee tour will take him all over Norway, from Halden to Hammerfest. A new album project is already in the making.

Gro-Marthe Dickson

Gro-Marthe Dickson (b. 1984) is a Norwegian singer with a distinct originality and an unmistakable presence in her musicianship. On an almost constant search for new endeavors, she is not a stranger to take on and explore unknown musical paths.

At the moment she is writing new music while also debuting her own jazz quartet. Her main projects besides these projects includes the Cole Porter in Norwegian; the jazz band D-lovely (AMP Music & Records 2019 and 2021), the vocal improvisation ensemble Oslo14 (Losen Records 2018, 2019, NOR CD 2016) and the big band show "Sing ‘n’ Swing”.

Louisa Palmi

Louisa Palmi, an innovative composer specializing in electroacoustic music, seamlessly blends electronics with 3D sound tech to craft immersive soundscapes. Her work explores transforming the sense of space through manipulation of sound. From subtle textures to sweeping movements, her compositions span a spectrum of contrasts. In a short time, Palmi's progressive pieces have gained recognition across European venues. Honored as "Young Artist" at the 2023 Northern Norway Festival, her impact resonates.

Shana Mathai

Shana Mathai has been singing and writing songs her whole adult life. Since 2018 these energies have gone into making kids/family music with her band, Mikrokosmos. Mellow Mathai is her solo project. Mellow Mathai's first two singles will be coming out early next year, aiming to infuse chilly Norwegians with a boost of warmth, soul and groove.

Bergill

Bergill challenges the vice-pop genre by using extended time and changing spaces. Here you get texts as you would say it, not as you would think it. In a musical world that grows both outwards and inwards, they take you into single life, neurotic life and everyday life. This is music with clear melodies, but unpredictable progressions. The debut album "Si Noe" contains no simple tricks, only sober fervor from Åshild Bergill Hagen's voice and pen, surrounded by the rich combination of the guitars of Torstein Slåen (Damata) and Håvard Nordberg Funderud (Master Oogway).

I had a great desire to capture the interaction between us, and therefore have several recordings on the album that were recorded with the audience, live in the confirmation hall at Vålerenga. Here is a video from this evening: https://youtu.be/Ek4J-FClJZw

In 2023 we have played at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival and Gressholmen. We had a release party at ByMad in Oslo and this autumn we are going to Sandefjord, Trondheim and Mjøndalen, among other places.

The album was recorded in Kapsel Studio, mixed in Athletic Sound and mastered by Oslo Fuzz. Photo is made by Hasla-Løkkeberg Agency. Released on FOYN Records.

Johanna Orellana

Flautist and composer Johanna Orellana has already received international attention for her expressive and atmospheric improvisations. Over the last years she has worked closely with Carmen Villain and made several musical collaborations with Anja Lauvdal, among others. With her debut album Las Camelias,Tres Esquinas, released on Smalltown Supersound, Orellana has officially stepped into the role as a solo artist. Her cosmic wanderings puts her into a tradition somewhere between Maggi Payne and Don Cherry, and in a domestic context somewhere between Arve Henriksen and Bendik Giske.

Håvard N. Funderud/Master Oogway

Håvard Nordberg Funderud - Guitar
Lauritz Heitmann Skeidsvoll - Tenor and soprano saxophones
Karl Erik Horndalsveen - Double bass and electric bass
Martin Heggli Mellem - Drums

During the last few years Master Oogway has worked extensively with their music in a liveformat. The quartet has invited different guest musicians, composed and improvised newmusic in several different aesthetics and directions. This way Master Oogway has evolvedfrom being a jazz/rock band to an ever changing and creative phenomenon. The liveformat is where Master Oogway’s music comes most alive, and this is the spirit theybrought into Athletic Sound studio during the recording sessions ofA Lot of Music AboutEverything. The quartet wanted to preserve their live energy, while utilizing the toolsprovided in a studio environment. With the expertise of sound engineer Dag ErikJohansen,A Lot of Music About Everythinghas become Master Oogway’s most gnarly,loudest and dirtiest album so far!

Skarbø Skulekorps (Øyvind Skarbø)

"Skarbø moves fluidly between measured cadences, pulse-free surges, and patient silences, contributing most by contributing just what the music needs." DUSTED MAGAZINE

Øyvind Skarbø, b. 1982, is a drummer, composer and producer based in Bergen, Norway. He studied with Terje Isungset from 2004-2006, and has also studied Norwegian, Cuban and Yoruba traditional music. 

Øyvind has played on 37 albums, and performed in 29 countries. He received the Vossajazz Prize in 2016 and the TONO Edvard award in 2022.

Skarbø Skulekorps is his main unit, for which he also composes the music. The ensemble, featuring the who's who of Scandinavian musicians, has received high acclaim for their two albums Skarbø Skulekorps (2019) and Dugnad (2021), both released on Hubro. Their third album Innesko is released on Skarbø's own Øyvind Jazzforum label.

Superless is a new project featuring Jeff Parker, Eirik Hegdal and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. The quartet will release their debut album in 2023.


Since 2006 he has been a strong presence on the European scene, initiating several highly acclaimed projects. These include his long-running trio 1982 with Nils Økland on Hardanger fiddle and Sigbjørn Apeland on harmonium. Between 2007–2018, the trio released 5 albums (and one bottle mail) and toured across Europe. The electric trio Bly de Blyant (2012–2015) where Skarbø composed and produced all the music, featured Hilmar Jensson on guitar and Shahzad Ismaily on bass. The band released three albums on Hubro.  In 2016 he initiated the international quartet Inland Empire, which included Kris Davis (piano), Fredrik Ljungkvist (tenor sax) and Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and released an album on Clean Feed. From 2012–2018 Øyvind toured and recorded two albums for Håkon Kornstad's highly successful Tenor Battle project.

He runs the record label Øyvind Jazzforum. From 2006 to 2012 he organized a concert series for improvised music under the same name in Bergen. In 2015 he arranged the 1982 Festival and in 2020 the festival Jazzknappleik, together with Paal Nilssen-Love, Jens Borge and Isach Skeidsvoll.

Since 2017, Skarbø has been composing and producing more. Apart from his music for Skarbø Skulekorps, this has resulted in such works as 25MB RAM for video and string quartet, debuted at the Borealis-festival 2018; and Psst! and PSST2; two scenic performances made in collaboration with fellow drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde and illustrator Fredrik Rysjedal, building on many years of experience performing for children. 

Julie Alapnes

Julie Alapnes has really made her mark as a fiddler, and you can tell her apart from others due to her strong signature as an instrumentalist. She is well known for her presence on stage, where she delivers beautiful compositions while carrying on the tradition of folk music from the North of Norway. The fiddle and her music has brought Julie to every nook and cranny of Norway as well as giving her wings to cross boarders: Galle Music Festival in Sri Lanka, The Opera house of Cairo, Shetland Folk Festival, Celtic Connections i Glasgow, as well as Folk Baltica and Trønderfestivalen, among others. Several of her compositions have been recorded by other artists, for instance can «Julies vals» and «Arnt Ivars polska» be found on releases from French, Canadian and Scottish artists. 

Julie gathered some of her favorite musicians in 2014 to start a new quartet; Petter Carlsen on Baryton guitar, Halvard Rundberg on pump organ and guitars, and Wetle Holte behind the drums. This musical dream team of the north have created an energetic, cool and fresh sound based in their local folk music. Julies tunes, beautiful and quirky, happily joins up with energetic rhythms, a rock’n’roll baryton guitar and dreamy vocals. And how her music thrives in this cinematic landscape; laid down by her fiddle and the pump organ (named Leon)! This band obtained splendid acclaims for their debut album in 2018, and their second album was released on 14th October 2022.

Johannes Fosse Solvang

photo by Jonathan Vivaas Kise

Johannes Fosse Solvang is an Oslo-based trombonist/composer whose new music features at their upcoming Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene 21. March performance. This will be his second concert written for OJKOS, the first, Miniatyrland, released as a studioalbum on Taragot Sounds in 2021.

Camilla Hole

Camilla Hole is an Oslo-based saxophonist and composer from Vestland. From the countryside, Camilla brought with her the inspiration from the folk music, which in recent years has been mixed with the interest in the more abstract, that reflects in the compositions. Lately Camilla has released music with BenReddik and Camilla Hole Trio, and she is a member of the composers orchestra OJKOS.

Holsen & Cassiers

Holsen & Cassiers is the new duo of Norwegian experimental trumpet player Hilde Marie Holsen and Belgian vocalist Lynn Cassiers, who rupture distant lounge jazz with dizzy psychedelic textures and hiccuping experimental sonics. The duo initially came together in Dublin for a "Match&Fuse" event where they represented their respective countries and worked together for five days in 2017. And despite having well-developed solo practices they found a way to improvise together so harmonically that a successful performance led to an ongoing project that continued in Oslo a year later. "Walking in Circles" is the duo's first recorded material and showcases the sound they've now spent a few years sculpting; if you've heard either artist's solo albums (like Holsen's brilliant "Lazuli" or Cassiers' smokey "Nacht Slakje") you'll be able to guess the general direction, but their collaborative sound is deeper and dreamier than anything they've produced on their own.

The music of Holsen & Cassiers results in a fascinating sound magma that constructs itself starting from nothing but a breath, a simple noise or gesture. Quickly, these initial ideas transform themselves into the most enchanting melodic textures. Within their crafty soundscapes, Holsen’s unique gentle melodies emerge to surface and go hand in hand with Cassiers’ fragile bits of songs and words, offering the listener a lead through an etheric dream world. It’s a moving and poetic journey that can sound at once coldly electronic, seemingly abstract, and at once heartwarmingly human.

This one's good - imagine Arve Henriksen jamming with Bohren, Broadcast and Lasse Marhaug. Dark, sure, but with a folkloric charm that's impossible to ignore. Boomkat

Qasim Naqvi

Pakistani-American musician Qasim Naqvi is perhaps best known as a founding member of acoustic trio Dawn of Midi, in which he has played drums since 2008. Outside of his work in D.O.M., Naqvi is an accomplished solo artist who has worked on a variety of projects from electronic music, to composing for orchestras, chamber groups, dance and film. His passion of late is analogue and modular synthesizer systems and orchestral configurations. His concert music has been performed/commissioned by The BBC Concert Orchestra, Jennifer Koh, The London Contemporary Orchestra, Stargaze, Cikada, ACME, Bang on a Can All-Stars, Crash Ensemble, yMusic, The Helsinki Chamber Choir, Alexander Whitley Dance, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra(MusicNOW Season) and others. As a solo artist Qasim has released albums on New Amsterdam, NNA Tapes and Erased Tapes Records.

Mall Girl

Math-pop powerhouse with members who are defining the Oslo pop underground through their participation in various projects. Their much-lauded debut album “Superstar” was released on Jansen Records this year, and now they’ve returned with “Emo Shred”, a demo recording showcasing the fragile and intimate state of their recording process.

MATATA

Matata - Marcus Ojiambo, Ken Kimathi, Richie Mathu, Freddy Milenye(FBI) and Festus Kwenda (Fezzoh) - has consistently been dropping hits with incredible screenplay exhibited in equally excellent music videos .

The group does their own mixing and mastering / production works closely with Kenyan Producer Pink Ozola who has worked on Bad Manners (Tuko Sherehe na Haitaki Hasira …) beat , a sensation on TikTok, The videos are directed by frequent collaborators David Vu and Reuben Anda. With plenty of versatility the group which raps in Sheng and a mix of Kikuyu have set shows on fire for their dancing routines normally choreographed by Freddy Milenye from International Dance Group FBI.

Christophe Boulmer

Although Christophe Boulmer is well entrenched in the underground music scene, the rumour is really starting to go around about a French-Norwegian DJ with a distinctive and hip taste, who creates an atmosphere of his own on the floor. For this mix he wants to showcase his signature approach to genre-blending, while letting every song shine in its own right. The mix clearly starts during daytime, and ends at night. From Pepe Bradock to Raina Rai, this selection is but a hint of the many influences to Christophe Boulmer’s style.

Inger Hannisdal

Norwegian violinist and composer Inger Hannisdal (b. 1991 in Oslo) works at the intersection of folk, improvised and contemporary music. She combines folk music timbres with contemporary impulses, shifting between composed and improvised structures. Focusing on microtonality, she draws on modes from both Norwegian and Middle Eastern traditions, crafting a personal musical language from their shared characteristics: quarter tones and uneven time.

Exposed to contemporary classical from a young age and with an early education in both classical and jazz violin, she completed a bachelor in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean studies at Sciences Po Paris (2012-2015) and then studied Arabic music and violin at Université Antonine in Lebanon (2016-2019). Inger also performs traditional Middle Eastern music in a number of ensembles - including popular Syrian folk music group Assa’aleek - spanning from tarab and folk to classical Arabic and Persian music.

Noise Diva

Noise Diva is an Amsterdam-based producer and DJ, Garage Noord resident, and co-founder of KLAB and SALWA foundation. Her music bridges a variety of genres, from Moroccan trap to Egyptian R&B, French drill, dancehall, and UK garage, weaving together stories that transcend the dancefloor, while ensuring that dancers stay hot on their toes. The ecstatic flow that she creates in her sets is always unexpected, and yet guaranteed to create intimate connections around the DJ booth.

Maria Dybbroe

Maria Dybbroe (1993) is a very active improviser, composer, saxophonist, and clarinetist, in the experimental realm of the Nordic jazz scene, who has released 9 albums in her own name, and contributed to more than 20 albums of others. She is the leading force of the double-trio Caktus which gave her the nomination as ‘Composer of the Year’ at the Danish Critic’s Prize ‘Steppeulven’ in 2020, as well as a nomination for 'Album of the year' at Danish Music Awards Jazz. In 2021 she also won the title ‘New Name of the Year’ at Danish Music Awards Jazz with the band Maraton, and earlier she has received several prices and nominations for her political engagement and work for a blossoming and diverse jazz-scene in Aarhus and Copenhagen with the organisations Sun Ship and The Community.