Espen Berg

Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg (b. 1983) is a modern day impressionist, seamlessly blending figurative and non-figurative styles in his spontaneously composed music, with an unsurpassed virtuosity and flow. His solo albums have been praised by audience and critics all over the world, earning top ratings in All About Jazz, UK Vibe, VG and Nettavisen, and an Editor’s Choice remark in Jazzwise, with Stuart Nicholson writing that «if the solo piano concert lost its main storyteller in recent times, then there is a voice in Norway that offers a different, but equally compelling narrative».

Espen has been touring around the world since 2003 and released 15 albums as a leader. His trio, Espen Berg Trio, is frequently visiting Asia, and has sold out concert halls in Tokyo, Kyoto, Guangzhou, Mumbai and Athens, in addition to famous clubs like Ronnie Scott’s in London. Espen Berg Trio’s third album was listed as one of the best albums of 2019 in Downbeat (US), and the trio has been named «one of the best trios in existence today» by Jazz Journal (UK).

Espen was appointed to official Steinway Artist in 2023 and was awarded Norway’s largest jazz grant in 2016. He has written commissioned works for Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and for many leading Norwegian jazz festivals, such as Molde Jazz Festival, Jazzfest in Trondheim and Oslo Jazz Festival. He has collaborated with artists such as the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Seamus Blake, Silje Nergaard, Mathias Eick, Hildegunn Øiseth, Marius Neset and Daniel Herskedal.

Awards

2023: Appointed to official Steinway Artist by Steinway & Sons.
2016: JazZtipendiatet, Norway's largest music scholarship
2016: Espen Berg Trio appointed to official NTNU Ambassador
2013: Semi-finalist in Montreux Solo Piano competition
2012: Semi-finalist in Montreux Solo Piano competition
2007: Best soloist, Hoeilaart Int'l Jazz Contest
2004: First prize, Hoeilaart Int'l Jazz Contest with the trio Listen

Gear

Steinway V-125 from 2015

Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Espen Berg: Maetrix

by Chris May
August 17, 2024

Lana and Lilly Wachowski's The Matrix (1999)--an inspiration for Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg's Maetrix--divides opinion. The movie is regarded by some, including one assumes Berg, as a prescient masterpiece addressing the existential threat posed to humanity by digital technology. Others say it is pretentious twaddle. No worries. Discord is unlikely to greet Maetrix. Berg's gift for writing good tunes is front and center, the toplines and soloists riding rhythmic platforms which are borderline reminiscent of ...

Album Review

Espen Berg: Water Fabric

Read "Water Fabric" reviewed by Chris May

by Chris May
November 10, 2023

The Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg has already carved out a formidable reputation with his trio. Earlier in 2023 he began a parallel strand with The Trondheim Concert (NXN), the recording of a wholly in-the-moment improvised solo concert, in the Keith Jarrett tradition, which he gave in 2019. Berg has since released two more albums in the same vein: The Nidaros Concert and The Hamar Concert (both NXN, 2023). Berg is also heard to advantage in ...

Album Review

Anders L?nne Gr?nseth & Multiverse: Inner View

by Chris May
May 23, 2023

Since George Russell published his influential Lydian Chromatic Concept Of Tonal Organization in 1953, other jazz musicians have attempted to reforge the theoretical construct of their music--with varying degrees of success and including some egregiously posturing examples of b.s. which bring to mind Hans Christian Andersen's salutary story The Emperor's New Clothes. One twenty-first century venture which authentically hits the mark is Israeli-born, New York-based tenor saxophonist Oded Tzur's Middle Path, his deft recalibration of microtonal Indian ...

Liner Notes

Espen Berg: The Trondheim Concert

by Chris May
February 5, 2023

The idea of free improvisation means different things to different people. For some it suggests the lineage that began with the so-called “energy players" of the late 1960s, musically untutored berserkers whose enthusiasm for Albert Ayler, John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders inspired them to pick up a horn and play whatever notes fell at random under their fingers, typically at maximum volume. A possibly apocryphal story concerns one such energy player and New York City's Jazzmobile outreach ...

Liner Notes

Espen Berg Trio: Free To Play

by Chris May
February 3, 2023

If you ask a jazz fan to name the greatest piano-trio albums ever made, the probability is that their top twenty choices will include most, if not all, of the following: Erroll Garner's Concert By The Sea (Columbia, 1955), Ahmad Jamal's But Not For Me (Argo, 1958), Bill Evans's Sunday At The Village Vanguard (Riverside, 1961), Keith Jarrett's Standards Volume 2 (ECM, 1983) and Brad Mehldau's The Art Of The Trio Vol. 1 (Warner Bros., 1996), or in the cases ...

Radio & Podcasts

Keith Jarrett & Vince Guaraldi

by Joe Dimino
January 3, 2021

During the penultimate episode of Neon Jazz during 2020, we continue to honor the voices of modern jazz. We start things off with a talented musician from Norway in Espen Berg. We also hear from Doug Carn of the 2020 Jazz is Dead series. We profile the busy and talented Kansas City saxophonist Rich Wheeler and wrap up the 680th Episode with Vince Guaraldi as the musical voice of the holiday season. Playlist Espen Berg Trio “Meanwhile in ...

Album Review

Espen Berg Trio: B?lge

Read "B?lge" reviewed by Gareth Thompson

by Gareth Thompson
June 12, 2018

The highest wave ever measured by a fixed installation hit a Norwegian gas transporter in the North Sea. The wave was marked at 25.6 metres high. Award-winning pianist Espen Berg would probably approve such statistics, having named his trio's second album B?lge--the Norwegian name for wave. Berg is also keen to point out the many levels that 'wave' can be perceived from, including the mathematical. None of which should imply that B?lge needs logical analysis. But it is ...

Recording

Espen Berg: The Trondheim Concert - A Fully Improvised Piano Concert And Live Recording

Source: Vivo Musique Internationale
October 8, 2022

Five years after releasing his second solo album, Acres of Blue, Espen Berg decided to present a fully improvised piano concert in a live recording. This one-taker is a culmination of years of development, reflection and research. The music, created in the moment, reflects his emotions in a profound way, and every time he plays, it��s different. Every second of music is unique, and it feels like an endless resource, both musically and spiritually. The Trondheim Concert was recorded at ...
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Recording

New Album by Norwegian Jazz Trio Listen

Source: Michael Ricci
October 20, 2009

The Norwegian trio Listen has won several international awards and toured in great parts of Europe, as well as Syria and Cuba. Their debut album received great reviews and a lot of media attention when released in 2007. The Norwegian National Broadcast described Listen as “a rarely interactional ensemble--regardless of genre", and the renowned reviewer Roald Helgheim called the record “a feast". II is Listen's second album, and their first pure trio album without guest musicians. It consists of original ...
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"In the context of the spontaneously conceived, freely improvised solo piano recital, Berg gives evidence of artistic growth as he moves ever closer to achieving the kind of mastery in the idiom that many aspire to, but few achieve. Where this fascinating odyssey ends up will be interesting to see." - Stuart Nicholson on The Hamar Concert (2023, 4/5 stars)

"Norway’s Espen Berg - whose limpid lyricism seems reminiscent of Jarrett in his prime - usually leads a trio, but with The Trondheim Concert is captured alone on stage. The results are spectacular and show that he, too, can conjure memorable improvised piano music from the ether." - Charles Waring, Record Collector (4/5 stars)

«It’s mesmerizing. It’s beautiful. […] The Trondheim Concert is an amazing feat.» - Tim Larsen, Jazzviews

“Impressive stuff – the future of spontaneously-improvised solo concert is in safe hands.” - Stuart Nicholson, Jazzwise, 4/5 stars, Editor’s Choice

«What we have here, is quite possibly one of the finest improvised solo piano performances I have had the pleasure of listening to in the last decade or so.» - Mike Gates, UK Vibe, 5/5 stars

"The Trondheim Concert confirms Berg as among the most compelling musicians of our time, one who seems destined to make as much impact on the international jazz scene as have his compatriots Jan Garbarek, Eivind Aarset and Jon Balke before him." - Chris May on The Trondheim Concert (2022, liner notes)

"Like all the best music, this album reveals something new and pleasing on each successive hearing" - BBC Music on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to play (2019), 4/5 stars

Free to Play was listed as one of the best recordings of 2019 by Downbeat (US), earning 4/5 stars

"EBT are rapidly becoming an important new voice in a crowded field of post-E.S.T. trios" - Jazz Journal (UK) on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to play (2019)

"But we all know what simplicity hides: A lot of rigor and precision in the detail that allow him to alternate the fluid and the collision with a certain mastery. And that's what gives this recording its particular brilliance. Espen Berg does not want to choose and manages to merge the opposites in order to obtain that original flair that is its charm. Well played." - Culture Jazz (FR) on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to Play (2019)

"Free To Play impresses with its range and the ease with which Berg is able to adapt himself comfortably to many styles. [...] Above all else, the recording testifies compellingly to Berg's highly developed talents as a composer and, especially, pianist." - Textura.org on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to play (2019)

"Undoubtedly one of my favorite albums this year" - UK Vibe on Espen Berg Trio's album Free to play (2019), 5/5 stars

Evocative, nuanced stories of dreamy, almost super natural landscapes. Another great work of a true master of the piano. - Eyal Hareuveni, All About Jazz, on Espen Berg's solo album, Acres of Blue (2014)

The confirmation of Espen Berg’s belonging to the group of top pianists in his generation, within the division of modern jazz- and classical informed music. - Terje Mosnes, Dagbladet (NO), on Espen Berg's solo album, Acres of Blue (2014)

With his debut album “Noctilucent” in 2012, Espen Berg appeared as a solo pianist of high rank. With “Acres of Blue” he’s defending his place among the great masters. - Roald Helgheim, Dagsavisen (NO), on Espen Berg's solo album, Acres of Blue (2014)

From the release of "Noctilucent": It is almost impossible to translate into words the beauty and the excitement that Noctilucent brings. One of the most beautiful releases of 2012. - Eyal Hareuveni, All About Jazz, 28.12.12

A brilliant album, so pure and beautiful, and so inspiring with the ways all the songs develop. - Roald Helgheim, Dagsavisen (NO)

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