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.

Runnershigh

Runnershigh is Ingvild Langgård and Øyvind Røsrud, making overtones, feedback, trancy, hypnotic, mossy, folk, industrial, strings, ambient voices for film. They released their self titled debut album in April 2022, featuring Gregor Riddell and Sara Övinge on strings.

Bjørn Kåre Odde

For almost a decade Bjørn Kåre Odde has been one of the most active fiddle players in Norway. With strong roots in the traditional music from Gudbrandsdalen and working as a composer and arranger, Odde has reached out to audiences beyond folk music both at home and abroad. He has performed with several choirs and orchestras in Europe, amongst them The Norwegian Radio Orchestra and SWR Vokalensemble (Germany).

Following over 20 releases in various formations over the years, in October 2021 Odde released his debut solo album “Folk Chamber”. This is, as the title suggests, chamber music, and the repertoire consists of his own tunes arranged for strings.

Tlön

Sara Övinge (violin) || Gregor Riddell (cello)

Tlön is a musical duo amalgamating acoustic strings, spoken word and rich electronic textures.

They take their name from the illusory worlds in Jorge Luis Gorbes’ Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius which has directly inspired the imaginary landscapes they strive for in their music.

Adam Teixeira

“Adam Teixeira alternates with perfect intuition between pushing forward and supportively underpinning at the drums.” ~ Ian Ballamy

“Teixeira providing understated yet propulsive percussion, is crucial to the tune's atmosphere” ~ All About Jazz

Born in Toronto, Adam Teixeira’s musical background began at an early age. Pursuing the drum set and various hand percussions Adam developed a strong foundation in the rhythmic vocabularies of jazz, rock, world rhythms and orchestral percussion while playing in many school ensembles and bands.
The experience of rehearsing and performing regularly fuelled his passion for the art form and guided his musical development. Adam graduated in Jazz Performance at Humber College in 2007 and began to perform regularly in the Toronto music scene and abroad. Participating in the International Jazz Workshop at The Banff Centre for the Arts where he studied and performed with renowned musicians from around the world and later fulfilled a self-directed music residency where he focused on expanding his artistic concepts and original compositions. Adam has been awarded several Professional Development Grants from the Ontario Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts to fulfill advanced study of world rhythms in Paris, France with Brice Wassy and Sonny Troupé. These experiences continue to enriched his voice as a musician and play a significant role in propelling his professional career. Adam has performed with the likes of Greg Osby, Tony Malaby, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Vitor Pereira, Ingrid Jensen, Monika Lidke, Monsoon, Julian Costello, Alex Stuart, Jangeun Bae, Pat Labarbera and more. Currently based in London, UK Adam performs regularly in the international music scene.

Oslo World

Oslo World is one of Europe’s leading venue festivals, presenting a global outlook on today’s music scene, with a special focus on music from Africa, Latin-America, Asia and the Middle East. In 2021, the festival will run from November 2 - November 7, with 65 concerts, featuring artists from more than 30 countries, at 20 big and small venues, all over Oslo. The task of the festival has remained unchanged since 1994: To bring the world to Oslo and Oslo to the world.

Mitmitta

Mitmitta creates one-of-a-kind sets ranging from sophisticated jazz to thumping sounds of mystical and up-tempo music from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, South Sudan, Djibouti, Tanzania & Somalia.

Deeply hypnotized by East African sounds from vinyl and audiotapes, Vemund Brune Hareide - Mitmitta or ‘Kidus’ in Ethiopia is originally from Norway but has been based in Ethiopia for the last 11 years. He has run a cassette shop in Addis Abeba, known as Mitmitta Muzika, while also creating hundreds of parties in the capital and around Europe and the USA. He has re-issued music from the region under the label Mitmitta Muzika along with archiving his extensive cassette collection.

He travels with a selection of records and audiotapes largely unknown to the world to accommodate various settings for listening and dancing.

Bendik Baksaas

Bendik Baksaas loves mechanical repetition and cherishes the human rhythm. His productions range from rough techno to open hearted ambient. Drum machines, synthesizers and field recordings are playfully processed in the digital realm to a blend that hits like a long and powerful exhalation after an intensely engaging moment.

A series of acclaimed releases include the double album Duets that received Natt&Dags award for album of the year 2018. His duo with Fredrik Høyer is a pillar in his musical practice, pioneering the field of performative poetry in interplay with minimal club music and ambient. Their mastodon project Til alt ute was released in 2019, comprising 26 songs, redefining rap-poetry as a musical element in dancefloor-friendly electronic music.