The picturesque ski resort of Vossevangen near Bergen has just a few thousand inhabitants. And yet it hosts several significant cultural events – including a jazz festival which celebrated its 50th edition two years ago.
This year’s event – traditionally it takes place in the week before Easter – delivered memorable experiences and a good proportion of exceptional music. The first concerts preceded the official opening – Jacob Young Trio (featuring bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Veslemøy Narvesen) performed at the headquarters of a local bank. In fact, Young had actually made his first contribution even earlier than that, with an impromptu solo jam aboard the train on its way to Voss.
The official opening of the festival was marked by a traditional fanfare played on the lur (a Nordic brass instrument) and the recitation of a specially commissioned poem – a hallmark tradition involving leading lights of Norway’s literary world. The opening concert was due to be with Maria Kannegaard’s trio, but the leader’s illness prompted her bandmates Ole Morten Vågan and Thomas Strønen to assemble the ad-hoc quintet Inazuma (with Anja Lauvdal, Ståle Storløkken and Nils Petter Molvær). Their set balanced melodic, trumpet-focused passages with bursts of open, energetic improvisation with a nice, thoughtful touch: they incorporated compositions by the absent Kannegaard.
Festival events are scattered across the town, including performances at the 13th-century Vangskyrkja church, where audiences enjoyed intimate projects like the Trygve Seim/Frode Haltli duo’s uninterrupted hour-long recital of material from their 2023 album Our Time. The first day climaxed with the eleven-piece Erlend Apneseth Ensemble performing works from this year’s Song over Støv – a sumptuous musical feast driven by four Hardanger fiddles, weaving extraordinary interplay with flute, accordion, and two percussionists, and taking us in unexpected sonic directions.
Vossa Jazz embraces stylistic diversity: folk influences permeate many projects, while younger audiences are courted with songwriter showcases and pop-adjacent acts. The festival actively engages new generations – Building Instrument trio delivered a remarkable performance with ten children, masterfully blending playfulness with a genuinely professional introduction to improvisation. Beyond their conventional instruments, the ensemble incorporated percussion, bells, bottles, and glassware into their sonic palette. The performance culminated in a suite crafted from smartphone samples—a brilliant commentary on the omnipresence of mobile devices in modern life. Standouts included Nils Økland Band‘s folk-rooted performance (highlighting the spellbinding violin-saxophone dialogue) and Sondre Moshagen Lightning Trio‘s archetypal Scandinavian piano trio aesthetic, alternating between energy and delicate soundscapes.
Kit Downes and Camilla Nebbia plunged listeners into intense free improvisation, while Kjetil Møster‘s commissioned Sense, Organ, Motion – performed by an octet including Benedicte Maurseth (violin) and Sofia Jernberg (voice) – delivered eclectic brilliance. Notable moments included Ole Morten Vågan‘s surprise bass guitar work during jazz-rock passages and breathtaking voice-violin duets.
The Saturday evening belonged to jazz vocal icon Norma Winstone. Performing in duo with pianist Kit Downes, the artist presented a recital featuring material from their first collaborative album Outpost of Dreams (ECM). The audience was treated to exquisite renditions of Carla Bley’s Jesus Maria, Ralph Towner’s Beneath An Evening Sky and Aidan O’Rourke’s Out Of The Dancing Sea – all featuring Winstone’s breathtakingly poetic lyrics. The concert reached its perfect culmination with a performance of Jimmy Rowles’ classic The Peacocks. For night owls, the festival offered late-evening concerts including the noise-jazz explorations of trio Phonix and pianist Kjetil Mulelid’s magnificent Agoja project. The latter particularly dazzled with its masterful horn section featuring Trygve Seim, Mathias Eick, plus the extraordinary Sissel Vera Pettersen – whose stunning vocal improvisations proved equally captivating.
Vossa Jazz offers jazz enthusiasts an undeniably rich experience. With overlapping performances making it impossible to catch everything, the festival presented a comprehensive panorama of Norwegian jazz. Beyond the already mentioned artists additional highlights included performances by: Elrik Hegdal Eklektisk Samband, the bands Lotus and Flukten (both featuring saxophonist Signe Emmeluth), Bugge Wesseltoft, Stefan Pasborg Trio, Thomas Dybdahl, Bergen Big Band with Vanessa Perica and the trios Gjerstad/Oswald/Asheim and Adjustments. Notably, much of the music featured brand-new projects—either fresh off their premiere or about to be released. The stellar lineup was complemented by late-night DJ sets and live podcasts presented by the team behind Norway’s Salt Peanuts magazine. In short, it was the perfect weekend!
