Musician, composer, bandleader and arranger Dag Arnesen has had a lifelong relationship with the music of Edvard Grieg. Together with his trio he has enjoyed extraordinary success with his “Norwegian Song” recordings, where treasures from the Norwegian song heritage have been interpreted with a jazz flavour. On the fourth record in this series the trio has been replaced by Bergen Big Band, and this time Arnesen has written entirely new arrangements for Grieg’s music and a selection of Norwegian folksongs.
An unusual big band
Bergen Big Band (BBB) is one of Norway’s leading big bands. It was established in 1991 as a continuation of Bergen Band. Among the artists they have collaborated with are The Core, Berit Opheim, Phil Woods, Paquito de Rivera, Joe Henderson, Maria Schneider, Diana Krall, Sissel Kyrkjebø, Andy Sheppard, Gianluigi Trovesi, Mathias Eick, Dino Zaluzzi, Gustavo Bergalli, Knut Kristiansen and Jan Magne Førde. “Crime Scene”, a work the band commissioned from Terje Rypdal, was released as a CD by ECM in 2009.
“With this CD I would like to help to preserve the Norwegian treasure trove of songs, and at the same time make more people aware of Edvard Grieg’s music.”
