Jaga Jazzist has become something of a musical phenomenon in Norway since they started 9 years ago. Not only is this 10 piece instrumental band regarded as one of the most exciting and innovative in Norway, the members are all involved in other musical projects and have in one way or another contributed to almost every significant recording to come out of that part of the world in the last few years. It has been this strong involvement with different projects, and different musical styles and sounds which is the key to the unique sound of Jaga Jazzist. With no boundaries and an arsenal that includes trumpets, trombone, electric guitar, bass, tuba, two bass clarinets, Fender Rhodes, vibraphone and a rack of electronics, Jaga Jazzist create timeless music. Melodic, hypnotizing, delicate and subtle. Jaga Jazzist started out in Tonsberg (a small town outside Oslo) in 1994 at which time Lars Horntveth (the main songwriter in Jaga) was only 14 years old! In 2001 they released their debut album “A Livingroom Hush” on Warner in Scandinavia to massive critical acclaim and great sales (the album sold over 20000 copies in Norway alone..). The band then signed a deal for the rest of the world through Oslo`s Smalltown Supersound. Throughout 2002 the band shocked fans and critics alike with their blistering live shows and the buzz resulted in sold out dates all over Europe and the band soon came to the attention of Ninja Tune who did a license/collaboration deal with Smalltown Supersound. At the same time as their debut album gained more and more international success, Jaga recorded the follow up titled “The Stix”. As with their first album this was produced by Norwegian superproducer Jørgen Træen the man behind Duper Studios in Bergen (home of Røyksopp, Kings of Convenience, Sondre Lerche et.al.) but this time Jaga wanted to push their musical limits even further and really create a sound they could genuinely call “Jaga Jazzist “. The proof of their efforts is in the record “The Stix”, the perfect balance between (hu)man and machine it never looses the organic nature of a live 10 piece. Genuinely original music.

The band:
Mathias Eick – trumpet, upright bass, keyboards + vibraphone
Harald Frøland – guitars + effects
Even Ormestad – bass + keyboards
Andreas Mjøs – vibraphone, drums, percussion + electronics
Line Horntveth – tuba, melodica + percussion
Martin Horntveth – drums + drum-machines
Lars Horntveth – tenor sax, bass-clarinet + electric guitar
Andreas Schei – Keyboards
Ketil Einarsen– flute, bass-clarinet, percussion + keyboards
Lars Wabø - Trombone