July 2011: KB completes Soloppgang
(Sunrise), a cantata written on the texts by Edvard Munch for
Nordstrand Musikkselskaps Kor, conducted by Egil Fossum. The
cantata will be performed at Universitetets Aula, Oslo, Saturday
12 November 2011, with Kari Bremnes (vocal), Aage Kvalbein
(cello), Matias Bjørnstad (sax) and Bjørn Kjellemyr (double
bass).
May 2011: KBs three solo recitals at the
Spoleto Festival in U.S. is a huge success.
In Charleston City Newspaper T.
Ballard Lesemann writes that KB gives the piano ”a special sonic
treatment”, also writing that his technique was terrific, and
“at times, it sounded like three pianists playing
simultaneously”. The critic also praised the “gorgeous, refined
moments of tenderness”. In The Post And Courier, Jack
McCray writes that KB kept the “growing tradition” after Dave
Brubeck and Horace Silver, a.o., intact: “His execution was
flawless. He created moods that were at once delightful and
profound.” He compared KB with Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett and
Charles Lloyd, “bringing fresh treatments to classic
structures”.
April 2011: In
a huge review in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, the author
Peter Henning gives KB exceptional praise for his Vinding-trilogy.
He writes that the trilogy is impressive. “A painful inner
journey marked by the limits of love ... The story is told over
more than eleven hundred pages in sentences and images of great
poetry and, sometimes, of icy beauty.” Henning writes that
“Bjørnstad’s extensive self-portrait is completed as a great
narrative of a utopia that remains unfulfilled.” And he
concludes that KB “succeeds with a grand undertaking: portraying
the futility of trying to hold on to happiness.”
Spring/Summer
2011: KB on tour: Engø Gård 8 April (solo piano), Lyngør Fyr 7
May (solo piano), Mai-Jazz Stavanger 13 May (with Tore Brunborg
& Jon Christensen), Spoleto Festival, Charleston, USA 29-31 May
(solo piano), Lørenskog kulturhus 3 June & Junikveld
Børli/Eidskog 5 June (both with Lill Lindfors), Sunndal 21 June
(with Terje Rypdal & Ole Paus), Elba, Italy 7 July (with Svante
Henryson), Skåtøy 14 July & Engø 17 July (both with Kari
Bremnes), The Barony Rosendal 29 July (with Ole Paus).
April 2011: At last KB’s praised
and very much demanded solo albums from the
eighties, Preludes I & II and Pianology
are once again becoming available on Hubro Records
on the double CD Early Piano Music.
April 2011: KB and Svante
Henryson’s Night Song gets an excellent
review in All About Jazz by John Kelman. He
writes that “The ease with which Franz Schubert
created a substantive body of work that still rings
true nearly two centuries after the Austrian
composer’s death at the age of 31, is the stuff of
legends, and while it might be hubris to suggest, at
this point, that Ketil Bjørnstad will be remembered
the same way, the Norwegian pianist’s career
certainly bears comparison in its seemingly
effortless prolificacy.” Kelman also writes that the
album is “defined by stark simplicity.” Bjørnstad’s
“touch has never been more delicate or assured,” and
he concludes that “both Night Song and
Remembrance stand as career highlights amongst
his extensive discography.”
February 2011: Ketil Bjørnstad’s
novel “De Udødelige” hits the Norwegian bestseller
list and sparks a debate, partly due to the
controversial subject of the book: a man who feels
overwhelmed by the care needs of both his elderly
parents and his grown-up children. Anne-Grete Strøm
Erichsen, Norwegian Minister of Health and Care
Services, meets Bjørnstad to discuss the issues
raised by the book on Norwegian radio and TV, and
says that the book addresses an important theme. In
Dagsavisen Turid Larsen writes that it is “a
novel you don’t want to put down”, and that the book
is “a penetrating and well-defined picture of
comfortable Norwegian reality at the beginning of
the 21st century”. In Oppland
Arbeiderblad Liv Romsås Bekkelund writes that
the book “grabbed this reader from the first page,
and maintained its grip until the final full stop”.
Jan Askelund of Stavanger Aftenblad writes
that Bjørnstad “deserves both gratitude and praise”.
And in Aftenposten Vidar Kvalshaug writes
that Bjørnstad at his best has lived up to his ideal
of writing “the great European novel of ideas”. He
also writes that the book has a lot to offer to
“Bjørnstad fans”.
January 2011: The ECM album
“Night Song”, with Svante Henryson, receives glowing
reviews in the Nordic press. In the Swedish
newspaper Dagens Nyheter Martin Nyström
compares the music with a Franz Schubert sonata, and
in his opinion the music also has “an intriguingly
close connection with Nordic folk music”. In
Dagbladet Terje Mosnes writes that “the music is
so sonorously and beautifully executed that it
acquires a sort of timelessness, rising above
changing ideals of style and genre. Quite simply
superb music and sublime playing.” Tor Hammerø
writes in Nettavisen that “the collaboration
of Svante Henryson and Ketil Bjørnstad was one of
last year’s top festival experiences. Now the rest
of the world will be able to enjoy it, too.”
According to Adresseavisen’s Trygve Lundemo,
“Bjørnstad’s piano and Henryson’s cello together are
greater than the sum of their parts.” And in Vårt
Land, Bjørn Olav Nordahl writes that “Night Song
is at times radiantly beautiful.”
May
2011: KB gives 3 solo-concerts at the American
Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina,
29-30 May. (Cathedral church of St. Luke and St.
Paul.)
Winter/Spring 2011: KB on tour: Kalkmølla, Bærum 10
February (with Jon Christensen and Tore Brunborg),
Haugesund 11 February (with Kari Bremnes), Kolbotn (Kolben)
29 March and Hov i Land 30 March (both with Kari
Bremnes).
February 2011: KBs new novel De Udødelige (The
Immortal) is published by Aschehoug Forlag, Norway.
It is already sold to Suhrkamp/Insel Verlag,
Germany. Bokklubben nye Bøker will present the novel
as their Book-of-the month in March 2011.
January 2011: Night Song with Svante Henryson
released worldwide by ECM. KB and Henryson will give
a concert at Liljevalchs Konsthall in Stockholm 7
March.
January 2011: KB visits the Hay Cartagena Festival
in Colombia Saturday 29 January (solo piano and
author-interview).
November/December 2010: KB on tour: Berlin 3
November (Lesung). Oberursel 4 November (Lesung with
Moritz Stoepel). Fürth 6 November (Lesung). Nittedal
21 November (solo piano), Hamar 2 December (solo
piano). Vilnius 14 December (solo piano).
Autumn 2010: KB on tour: Berlin 6
September (presenting the German version of Damen
i Dalen – Die Frau im Tal). Nordhausen 7
September (Lesung), Köln 8 September (solo piano.
St. Mauritius Kirche). Sortland 15, Lørenskog 16,
Ørsta 17 Stryn 18 and Sandvika 25 September (all
with Lill Lindfors.) Tønsberg 25 September (Lecture
about Oda Krohg). Madrid 27 September (presenting
the Spanish version of To Music). Kvinesdal
29 September (solo piano). Frankfurt Book-Fair, 6-8
October (presenting Die Frau im Tal).
Eidsvoll 16. October (solo piano). Moster 24 October
(solo piano). Notodden 26 October (solo piano).
Neuwied 29 October (solo Piano).
July 2010: KB and his powerful
ensemble (Shepard, Lechner, Mazur, Aarset, Andersen)
got standing ovations after their performance of
The Antonioni Project at Molde Int. Jazzfestival.
The reviews gave unison praise to the musicians, and
in a huge and detailed review in All About Jazz,
John Kelman wrote about “the feeling of having
been there ... in this very specific place, at this
very particular point in time.” The concert was
recorded for ECM, and Kelman wrote that the
recording “will, no doubt, be a terrific one –
perhaps, even, the best recording of Bjørnstad’s
career.”
July 2010: In a huge review in
Le Monde, Nils C. Ahl gives KB exceptional
praise for his novel The River (L’appel de la
rivière). He writes that the novel is an
excellent sequel of To Music (La Société des
Jeunes Pianists) and concludes that it is a
novel that makes you feel you don’t miss anything.
In Libération, Claire Devarrieux praises the
novels beautiful parts, and France TV 2 concludes
that it is a strong and beautiful novel about love,
elevated by music.
July 2010: John Kelman from
All About Jazz visits Norway’s most famous
jazz-festivals, and after KB and Svante Henryson’s
concert at Kongsberg Jazzfestival, where the duo for
the first time presented music from their upcoming
Night Song-album (ECM, January 2011), he
wrote that it was “a show that was largely gentle,
occationally majestic and always elegant ... Nearing
60, Bjørnstad continues at a pace that would put
many younger musicians to shame ... Henryson’s
understated passion created a dramatic undercurrent
to Bjørnstad that made their performance a
trancendent experience.”
Summer 2010: Unison praise for
Remembrance in German, French, Italian, English
and Canadian magazines and newspapers. In
Jazzpodium, Heribert Ickerott writes that it is
“klang- und formschönen Jazz-Kammermusik". In
Daily Express, Chris Pearson writes that the
album is “exquisite, intriguing and, in its quiet
way, life-affirming,” In The Irish Times, Ray
Comiskey concludes that “it’s all undeniably lovely
... It takes class musicians to bring off the artful
simplicity of this sumptuously melodic album.” And
in Jazz Journal, Michael Tucker writes:
“Sometimes an album comes along that simply – really
– stops you in your tracks, that demands your
attention time and time again ... Many thank’s
gentlemen.” In Jazzwise, Stuart Nicholson
writes that “it is an absorbing musical journey.”
And in All About Jazz, Dan McClenaghan
compares the album to Paul Motian’s Lost in a
Dream, and writes that Remembrance is
“cool, spacious, unhurried, unfailingly lovely.”
Summer 2010: KB
gives several concerts. Lillehammer
Litteraturfestival 27 May (with Kari Bremnes), Hay
Festival, Wales, 29 May (solo piano), Bergen
Nattjazz 2 June (with Kari Bremnes), Reine Festival,
Lofoten, 4 June (solo piano), Vestfold Festspillene,
Åsgårdstrand, 6 June (solo piano) and the day after
(with Kari Bremnes). Rosendal Barony 19 June (with
Lill Lindfors), Tjuvholmen, Oslo, 20 June (with Lill
Lindfors), Sunndal 22 June (with Lill Lindfors),
Hochneunkirchen, Austria, 25 June (solo piano),
Kongsberg Int. Jazzfestival 8 July (with cellist
Svante Henryson), Dovre 12 July (solo piano), Molde
Int. Jazzfestival 21 July (Commisioned work, The
Antonioni-project). Augsburg 4 August (with Tore
Brunborg and Jon Christensen). Hamsun-dagene,
Hamarøy, 6 August (solo piano) and Oslo Jazzfestival,
21 August (night-concert with Tore Brunborg and Jon
Christensen in Oslo Domkirke).
April 2010: KBs new
ECM-recording Remembrance, with drummer Jon
Christensen and saxophone-player Tore Brunborg gets
very good reviews in Scandinavian newspapers. In
Sweedish Dagens Nyheter, Johannes Cornell writes
that the music has “a poetic closeness to nature”
and gives much praise to the trio. In Dagbladet,
Terje Mosnes gives the album top score and writes
that the album could become a classic, and in Dagens
Næringsliv, Per A. Risnes jr. compares Ketil
Bjørnstad with Arvo Pärth, and writes that the music
has a timeless quality.
Spring 2010: KB
works on The Antonioni-project, a commissioned work
for the Molde International Festival, in
collaboration with Manfred Eicher. ECM has earlier
released albums connected to Tarkovsky and Pasolini.
KB will perform the music together with Andy
Sheppard (sax), Eivind Aarset (guitars), Anja
Lechner (cello), Arild Andersen (bass) and Marilyn
Mazur (percussion) the 21 July 2010.
March 2010: KB's novel
To Music (Til
Musikken)
is longlisted
for
The Independent
Foreign Fiction Prize 2010.
Other nominees are Boris Akunin, Jonathan Littell &
Philippe Claudel. The book is translated by Deborah
Dawkin and Erik Skuggevik.
January 2010: In
The Times,
Paul Binding praises
To Music
and writes that it is "a powerful novel" ... "a
demonstration of the price society demands for the
recognition of all outstanding gifts."
Spring 2010: KB will give a few concerts in Norway,
Germany, England, France and Korea. He also writes
on a new novel.
Winter 2009/2010: Remarkable attention for KB’s
novel To Music (Til Musikken) in England. In
The Independent, Tone Sutterud writes: “This
is an enchanting tale of love and death, desire and
loss, about how parents and mentors manipulate and
ultimately fail the young people entrusted to them.
Above all, it’s a story of music written by a master
in the field.” In the Financial Times, the
author Henry Hitchings writes: “Bjørnstad diligently
maps out a plot that’s charged with Gothic
intensity, as the creepy adults repeatedly forsake
their sensitive dependants. The main strength of the
novel is its evocation of the pathology of
adolescent rivalry ... there are moments of wiry
drama and of psychological acuity.”
Christmas 2009: The producer Manfred Eicher edits
KB’s new album Remembrance (ECM) in Rainbow
Studio. The album is recorded together with the
drummer Jon Christensen and the saxophone player
Tore Brunborg, and will be released worldwide in
spring 2010. The album Night Song (ECM) with
the Swedish cello player Svante Henryson will be
released in September 2010.
4 December 2009: KB performs Grace with
Anneli Drecker in St. Martin-in-the-Fields, London.
He also performs at The Norwegian Seamen’s Church
the day after. 17 December he performs with the
Norwegian poet Ove Røsbak in Lillehammer.
December 2009: Lars Müller Publishers (Switzerland)
release Windfall Light – The Visual Language of
ECM. KB contributes with his essay about ECM,
Manfred Eicher and his cd covers: Landscapes and
Soundscapes.
Autumn 2009: KB visits Germany 16 (Langenau), 17 (Ecquinox Music
Festival, Köln) and 18 September (Münster), playing both solo
piano and with Arild Andersen and Alex Riel (Köln). He will
perform in Sarpsborg with Ole Paus 24 September. 14 and 15
October KB will visit “Lettres du Monde” in Bordeaux, France,
and 17 October he gives a concert with Terje Rypdal at the
Istanbul Jazz-festival, Turkey. He gives two concerts in
Haugesund, Norway 23/24 October, one solo-recital in Purcell
Room, London, 27 October, Sandefjord 29 October, Larvik (With
Ole Paus) 3th November, Koblenz, Neuwied and Fürth (Germany)
5th, 6th and 7th November. Asker (Norway) with Randi Stene and
Lars Anders Tomter 11 November. Solo-piano in Hamm (Germany) 19
November. Moster, Horten, Asker and Lillestrøm with Lill
Lindfors, November/December 2009.
19 September 2009: Det Norske Teatret, Scene 2. ”Ikkje lenger enn
min kjærleik rekk”.
The Norwegian actor Jon Eikemo celebrates his 70th
anniversary with a new play about the Norwegian
author and journalist Per Sivle, written by Ola E.
Bø/Jon Eikemo. KB has written the music to the play.
The Russian pianist Olga Konkova will perform the
music live on stage.
Summer 2009: KB gives an outdoor-concert in Kragerø
2 July, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of
Edvard Munch's arrival to the city in 1909, after
his mental breakdown in 1908. The concert was the
city’s gift to its inhabitants. KB also gives a solo
piano concert at Baroniet Rosendal on 10 July, and
in Moss (with Lill Lindfors) on 14 August.
28 June 2009 “Hvalenes Sang” (“Song of the Whales”)
is performed at Oseberg Kulturhus, Tønsberg. Svein-Erik
Tandberg writes in Tønsberg Blad: ‘The Song of the
Whales’ – an engrossing oratorio in the style of a
ballad … a powerful musical and rhetorical
testimonial to the complexity of life and the human
mind. This is an intriguing work of documentation,
featuring richly contrasting sound colours,
uncomplicated narrative, heartfelt poetry and visual
impressions. An extremely original interaction of
brutality, nature mysticism and Christian piety. At
the core is Ketil Bjørnstad’s unique ability to
create beautiful melodies, and here he offers a
wealth of these. We predict that several of the
melodies in this work will live independent lives in
the future, beyond the framework of the piece as a
whole. Here there are gems in abundance.”
Summer 2009: More remarkable attention for KB's
novel Der Fluss in Germany: In the Frankfurter
Allgemeine Zeitung, Anja Hirsch writes that
“Vindings Spiel was exciting, full of atmosphere and
instructive… In Der Fluss, KB consequently gives
attention to the deepest conflicts … And telling
about the close connection between sorrow and
desire, he is also this time able to seduce his
reader.” In Kölner Stadtanzeiger, the author Peter
Henning writes that Der Fluss is “a great and
upsetting novel.” And in Sachsische Zeitung, Ulrich
Steinmetzger writes that Der Fluss is a novel about
deep passion, and that it is KB's achievement to
find the right words for it.”
17 March 2009. Elke Heidenreich talks for the third
time about one of KBs books in her famous Lesen!-program
(litColony.de). She presents Bjørnstads novel Der
Fluss (Elven) and says it is “a
brilliant, quiet, intense and profound melancholic
story.”
March/April 2009. KBs novel Damen i Dalen is
reviewed in Norways major newspapers. Jan Askelund
of Stavanger Aftenblad says that the novel is
“thrilling Ketil Bjørnstad at his very best. His
best book ever.” Svein Johs Ottesen of Aftenposten
writes that the book is “a reading experience on the
highest level” and that “KB writes about music in a
way that few other authors are able to do.” Ole
Jacob Hoel of Adresseavisen calls the novel “a very
good read”. In VG, Sindre Hovdenak praise the book
as “a full-blooded artist novel”. And in Dagbladet,
Cathrine Krøger says that “KB is professional. He
knows how to create a story.”
7 March 2009 in Dagsavisen,
Damen I Dalen gets an excellent review by Kjell
Olaf Jensen. He writes that the last volume of the
Vinding-trilogy is both “thrilling, vivid and
entertaining.” Jensen specially values Bjørnstad's
attempt to describe life, love and self-analysis
through music. More reviews of this novel are
expected to come.
Friday 13 March 2009 KB will
attend the Leipzig Bookfair, in Blüthner
Klavierschule. He will read from the novel Der
Fluss and also play solo piano. The day before,
he gives a solo-concert at Schloss Landestrost
outside Hannover. He is also
performing with Anneli Drecker and Lill Lindfors on
different concerts in
Norway this spring.
He will visit Germany
and Austria
in April (Frankfurt 22,
Oberursel 23, together with Moritz Stoepel, and
Innsbruck 25), playing
solo-piano.
6 March 2009 the third novel
about Aksel Vinding, Damen I Dalen is
published in Norway
by Aschehoug. The publishing house also invites to a
release concert in Store Studio, NRK, with KORK (The
Norwegian Radio Orchestra) Friday 20 March,
presenting music from the trilogy. Jie Zhang will
play Chopin and Ravel, Gunilla Süssmann will play
Debussy, Beethoven and Rachmaninov. Christian Eggen
is the conductor. He will also play Mozart. KB will
read and tell from the books. Both radio and
television will record the concert.
In
January 2009, KB will record a new album for ECM
together with Svante Henryson. Manfred Eicher
is the producer and the duo-album has an expected
release late Fall 2009 or winter 2009/2010.
Sunday 28
June 2009
KB has been asked to compose the commissioned work
for the Vestfold Festspillene 2009.
The oratorium “Hvalenes Sang” (“Song of the Whales)
will be performed at Oseberg Kulturhus, Tønsberg
with Anneli Drecker, Svante Henryson, Bjørn
Kjellemyr, Rune Arnesen, Bjørn Meyer Charles, Sven
Persson and Sjøbodkoret with Arne Næss, together
with the composer and two actors from Teater Ibsen.
January 2009 excerpts from
Bjørnstad's 3CD solo-piano set Rainbow Sessions
is released by Universal Music.
Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel The
River (Aschehoug 2007) is currently being
published in Denmark to glowing reviews. The
River was given a full-page review in
Politiken, one of Denmark’s major daily
newspapers, 25 October 2008. Mette Winge writes, “It
is not without good reason that Ketil Bjørnstad has
been awarded the Prix des Lecteurs for To Music.”
She calls The River “a worthy successor”, and
writes, “Like To Music, The River is
great literature – sombre and uplifting at the same
time.” Henriette Bacher Lind of Jyllands-Posten,
Denmark’s largest-selling daily newspaper, writes:
“As the musician he is, Ketil Bjørnstad constructs
his story very elegantly, like a musical
composition, repeating the same passages again and
again in new ways.” She concludes that the reader is
“once again captivated by Ketil Bjørnstad’s musical
and expressive language”. And Eva Pohl of
Berlingske Tidende opens her review by
commenting, “Waves of drama sweep over the
characters in Ketil Bjørnstad’s compelling and
psychologically insightful novel The River.”
The third volume of the trilogy about Aksel Vinding,
The Lady of the Valley, will be published in
Norwegian in February 2009.
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
has a very favourable review of KB's "Oda" by
Matthias Hannemann October 25. 2008. Hannemann
writes that the novel is very elegantly written, and
that KB shows all his musical talent in his work
with the text. He also praises KB for being
trustworthy with all the biographical elements.
In Norwegian Dagbladet, Tom
Stalsberg writes that KB's book "Kolbein Falkeid -
Et nærbilde" is a wonderful book about poetry, life
and cosmos. Gro Jørstad Nilsen of Bergens
Tidende says that KB gives a brilliant portrait
of a wise poet.
23 September 2008, Ketil
Bjørnstad was announced as the winner of the
prestigious French readers’ award "Prix des Lecteurs"
for his novel Til Musikken (La Société des
Jeunes Pianistes). This prize is awarded by a large
jury composed of readers all over
France, who have read
four books each month for an entire year. They
select one candidate every month as a finalist, and
then one of the twelve finalists is chosen as the
winner. Ketil Bjørnstad’s novel Til Musikken,
competing with novels by writers such as Paul Auster
and Truman Capote, was the favourite of the French
readers. Previous winners include Carlos Ruiz Zafón
and Isabel Allende.
Ketil Bjørnstad presents a
reading from his forthcoming novel "To Music" (Maia
Press 2009) and a solo piano performance at Kings
Place, 17 November 2008, during London Jazz
Festival.
“The Light – Songs Of Love And
Fair” (ECM) gets critical acclaim both in Norway,
Great Britain and in Germany. In the October 2008
issue of Gramophone, Richard Whitehouse writes:
“Ketil Bjørnstad has followed a distinctive creative
course from classical piano prodigy to jazz pianist
and sui generis composer, while not
forgetting his success as a poet, lyricist and
novelist. They are attributes that puts one in mind
of a latter-day Leonard Cohen, and the song-cycles
on this disc are redolent of the Canadian master in
their fastidious alignment between words and music …
listening of the deepest, most thought-provoking
kind.” In Jazzwise, Stuart Nicholson writes that
“Bjørnstad creates an album of wonderfully
understated passions … Once again his melodies allow
the voice to invest each word with rich, personal
meaning in an album that, like so much of
Bjørnstad’s work, can not be easily set aside.” Ray
Comiskey of Irish Times writes that the album is
“gorgeous”, and in Norwegian DN, Trond Jensen
compares the music of KB with Gorecki and writes:
“Always beautiful. And, at the same time,
reliefingly abstract.”
KBs novel ”Oda” is getting great
attention in German newspapers. In his review for
Züddeutsche Zeitung, Joseph Hanimann writes: “We are
happy to believe that this woman anticipated the
liberal masquerade between honesty and new pretence
– a masquerade which the author’s generation would
enjoy to its fullest extent – by almost a
hundred
years.” In Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Peter Urban-Halle
writes that KBs novel reminds him of the writing of
Per-Olov Enquist, but more sober, and without
hysteria. In Rheinischer Merkur, KB is praised by
Ulrich Steinmetzger, who writes that KBs novel is a
sovereign piece of art.
Together with the Swedish
cello-player Svante Henryson, KB is expected to
record a new album for ECM in January 2009. The two
musicians worked together on KBs “Seafarer’s Song”
(Universal 2004) and have also given a recital at
the Bath Festival.
KB was given the honour of
writing the prologue for Bjørnsonfestivalen – The
Norwegian festival of international literature – in
Molde, August 2008.
The live-recording of
“Coastlines” with Lill Lindfors (Canal Street,
Arendal 2007) will be released on Grappa (Norwegian
ECM-distributors) 24 November 2008.
A one-cd excerpt of KBs tripple-album
“Rainbow Sessions” will be released by EmArcy/Universal
in 2009. The limited edition of the tripple-box is
sold out.
KB has delivered the third part
of his trilogy about Axel Vinding, starting with
“Til Musikken” (2004) and “Elven” (2007) to his
publishing house Aschehoug. The novel, “Damen i
dalen”, will be published in Spring 2009.
KB is touring all over Norway
Autumn 2008 (mostly solo piano). He will also visit
several German cities (Köln, Frankfurt, Ludwigshafen
and Oldenburg a. o.). He will play with Terje Rypdal
in Porto, Portugal, 26 October 2008. During the London
International Jazz festival, 17 November 2008, he
presents a reading from his forthcoming novel “To
Music” (“Til Musikken”) and solo piano performance
at Kings Place, the iconic new creative centre in
Kings Cross.
Bokklubben (The norwegian
Book-of-the-Month-club) makes a re-launch of KBs
novel “Oda!” from 1983, due to it’s 25th
anniversary, together with a re-release of his
tripple-album “Leve Patagonia” from 1978. The book
and the cd’s will be offered in October 2008, and KB
will perform “Sommernatt ved
fjorden” at the “Bokfest” at the new Norwegian
Opera, 21 September 2008.
KBs
portrait of the Norwegian poet Kolbein Falkeid
“Kolbein Falkeid – et nærbilde. Den som ser i
brønnen stirrer nedenfra.”, will be released by
CappelenDamm on 22 September 2008.
The book is a result of several
interviews KB made with the 75 year old poet in his
hometown Haugesund during 2007.
Life in Leipzig (KB and Terje Rypdal) is very well
received, getting 5 stars in many major newspapers.
Mode Steinkjær in Dagsavisen calls the recording a
"first rate"-album, "challenging, exciting, playful
and sincere." Dagbladets Terje Mosnes calls Terje
Rypdal and KB "two of the most characteristic voices
in contemporary music".
He also writes that the concert-cd is "one of the
most ecstatic celebrations of melody and inspired
romantic expressiveness ever made." In Bergens
Tidende, Hanne Farestvedt writes: "Intensely
beautiful".
Ketil Bjørnstads novel "La Société des Jeunes
Pianistes" "Til Musikken) is nominated to the French
"Prix des Lecteurs" 2008.
KB will perform his suite "The Light - Songs of Love
and Fear" with Randi Stene and Lars Anders Tomter at
the "Les signes parmi nous - Musik von ECM"-festival
at Schloss Elmau, Sunday 25 May 2008. The trio will
also give a cd-release concert at Logen, during the
Bergen Int. Festival on Wednesday 21 May 2008, and
perform the suite at Randi Stenes own festival "Sommersang"
at Ringve Museum, Trondheim, Friday 13 June, at the
Barony in Rosendal 4 July, and at Verdens Ende
outside Tønsberg (early morning open air concert)
Sunday 6 July 2008.
KBs novel "Elven" (The
River) was regarded as one of the best books in 2007 by
Norway's biggest newspaper VG. Gabriel Michael
Vosgraff Moro called the novel "a thrilling
experience". (VG 19th December 2007)