Jon Larsen

Jon Larsen
Jon Larsen, 2008
Background information
Born (1959-01-07) 7 January 1959
Bærum, Norway
Genres Jazz, gypsy jazz
Occupation(s) Musician, composer, painter, scientific researcher
Instruments Guitar
Years active 1976–present
Labels Hot Club
Associated acts Hot Club de Norvège
Website www.hotclub.no/jonlarsen/index.html

Jon Larsen (born 7 January 1959) is a gypsy jazz guitarist, record producer, surrealist painter, and scientific researcher. He is the founder of the group Hot Club de Norvège (1979–), the record labels Hot Club Records (1982–) and Zonic Entertainment (2007–), the Django Festival (1980–), Symphonic Django (2005-), the book publishing company Den Gyldne Banan (2009–), and Project Stardust.[1] In 2007 he received the Buddy Award for his lifelong contribution to jazz.[2][3]

Career

When he was in his early teens, he learned rock and soul songs on an acoustic steel-string guitar. Through friends, he learned about blues, jazz, flamenco, and classical guitar. After he heard "Tears" by Django Reinhardt on the radio, he decided that this is how he wanted his guitar to sound. At seventeen he formed a string trio and had his first professional job.[4]

He started the Hot Club de Norvege in 1980 with guitarists Per Frydenlund and bassist Svein Aarbostad. They had a hit record when they performed with pop singer Lillebjørn Nilsen. Larsen started the label Zonic Entertainment to record musicians who have been influenced by Frank Zappa.[4][3] He has worked with Chet Baker, Philip Catherine, Stéphane Grappelli, Warne Marsh, Biréli Lagrène, Babik Reinhardt, Jimmy Rosenberg,[4] Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Florin Niculescu, Andreas Öberg, Nappy Brown, and Adrien Moignard. He has produced more than 450 jazz records for the label he founded, Hot Club Records.[2]

He has led the group Strange News from Mars with musicians who played with Zappa, including Arthur Barrow, Jimmy Carl Black, Bruce Fowler, Bunk Gardner, Tommy Mars, and Don Preston.[5]

Symphonic Django was released in 2008 by Storm Films, which also produced a documentary about Larsen and guitar virtuoso Jimmy Rosenberg titled Jon & Jimmy. In 2012, the documentary won the Dutch Edison Award.[2][3]

Paintings

Jon Larsen started out as a painter, inspired by surrealism, especially Salvador Dalí. He made his debut solo exhibition of pictures as early as April 1976, the same month he had his first gig with the string trio Clo-Z. This was followed by annual exhibitions until 1995, when he started composing music full-time. From 1976–'78 he received training in drawing by his mentor, the Polish artist Ryszard Warsinski. In 1978 he moved to Barcelona to study with Salvador Dalí and became a part of the Catalán surrealist movement. In 1979 he returned to Norway and established the jazz quartet Hot Club de Norvège but continued to paint full-time. Larsen's paintings are often atmospheric landscapes, filled with stones, mountains, and unexpected objects, and are often humorous or whimsical. A book about Jon Larsen's surrealistic pictures, Maler i solnedgang (170 pictures, text in Norwegian), was released in May 2009. In 2011 a retrospective exhibition with Jon 42 of Larsen's main works was held in Trondheim and Ålesund.

Awards and honors

  • Composition of the Year, "Jimmy's Suite", NOPA, 1993
  • Buddyprisen for lifelong contribution to jazz, 2007
  • The Council of Oslo's Artist's Award, 2008
  • The Kardemomme Award (Thorbjorn Egner's legacy), 2009
  • Audun Tyldens Minnepris (the record producers' award), 2013

Discography

Solo works

Within Hot Club de Norvège

  • String Swing – 1981
  • Old, New, Borrowed & Blue – 1982
  • Gloomy – 1984
  • Swing de Paris – 1986
  • La Roue Fleurie (with Angelo Debarre) – 1992
  • Swinging with Jimmy (with Jimmy Rosenberg) – 1994
  • Portrait of Django – 1995
  • Vertavo (with Vertavo String Quartet) – 1995
  • Hot Shots (with Babik Reinhardt) – 1997
  • Moreno (with Moreno and Angelo Debarre) – 1998
  • Presenting Ola & Jimmy (with Ola Kvernberg and Jimmy Rosenberg) – 2000
  • Angelo Is Back in Town (with Angelo Debarre) – 2001
  • White Night Stories (with Tromso Symphony Orchestra) – 2002
  • White Night Stories Live – 2002
  • Django's Tiger (with Jimmy Rosenberg and Andreas Öberg) – 2003
  • A Stranger in Town (with Bjørn Vidar Solli) – 2004
  • Hot Cats (with Camellia String Quartet) – 2005
  • Django Music – 2008
  • Caution HOT! – 2013

Main compositions

  • "Jimmy's Suite" – 1993
  • "Vertavo" – 1995
  • "White Night Stories" – 2002
  • "Short Stories from Catalonia (Musique Noir)" – 2005
  • "Luna Suite" – 2006
  • "Strange News from Mars" – 2007

Books

  • Maler I Solnedgang (Painter in the Sunset) – 2009
  • Norske Meteoritter – 2014
  • Zappa I Norge – 2015
  • In Search of Stardust – 2016
  • Robert Normann - Tusenkunstneren fra Sundløkka – 2016

Film

  • Symphonic Django – Storm Studio – 2007
  • Jon & Jimmy – Storm Studio – 2010, Winner of the Dutch Edison Award 2010

References

  1. ↑ Broad, William J. (2017-03-10). "Flecks of Extraterrestrial Dust, All Over the Roof". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-03-10.
  2. 1 2 3 Lauvland Pettersen, Tomas (13 December 2005). "Jon Larsen Biography". Norsk Biografisk Leksikon. Kunnskapsforlaget. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Jon Larsen Biography". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Yanow, Scott (2013). The Great Jazz Guitarists. San Francisco: Backbeat. p. 117. ISBN 978-1-61713-023-6.
  5. ↑ "Jon Larsen on 28-October-2007 recalls working with Jimmy Carl Black just before his death". Archive.org. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Jon Larsen Review". GandsMusic.com. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  7. ↑ Westengen, Rune (25 January 2010). "Jon Larsen: A Portrait of Jon Larsen (Hot Club Records) Review" (in Norwegian). Romerikes Blad. Retrieved 2 December 2012.
  • "Larsen, Jon". Store norske leksikon. Kunnskapsforlaget. 2007.


Awards
Preceded by
Paal Nilssen-Love		 Recipient of the Buddyprisen
2007		 Succeeded by
Frode Gjerstad

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