BIO

Karl Seglem is described as one of the most exciting contemporary tenor saxophonists and composers in Norway. This country has spawned quite a plethora of distinctive musicians that have made it their enterprise to merge musical traditions, often from their respective homesteads, with contemporary expressions, world music and improvisational jazz. Karl Seglem looms prominently among these and he is unquestionably one of the great innovators and visionaries of Norwegian music; reinvigorating both Norwegian traditional genres and jazz with his unwavering will to fuse expressions, pursue crossover ventures and embrace new instruments, sounds and perspectives.

Seglem's main instrument is the tenor saxophone and he has played an important role on the Norwegian jazz scene. His CD-production counts 19 solo-albums and 20 albums with different ensembles (2018). Already at an early stage in his career he became interested in more diverse and genre crossing perspectives of music. Especially he has been deeply involved with Norwegian folk music and has explored it as a basis for improvisation and composition. For Seglem is much more than an instrumentalist, he has worked widely and diversely as a composer -developing new contemporary forms on the basis of jazz, folk music and more eclectic inspirations- and has also been instrumental to the growth of cross-over expressions and projects as a producer and record label manager.

International renown has grown steadily and not least his recent solo releases Ossicles, Nordic Balm, Som Spor and Nunatak have captivated international critics and audiences. On these records the use of goat horns and other traditional instruments -notably the Hardanger fiddle- is masterly and excitingly blended with a plethora of modern and eclectic elements; electronic loops, jazz improvisation, world music traits and rock characteristics. Seglem often returns to the notion of the acoustic heart of his music, which is the grounded and timeless leitmotif. With this heart intact electronic elements and engineered sounds, as well as genre-specific traits, create a dynamism that is reciprocally enhancing.

He was awarded the EDVARD prize in 1998 for his work "Tya" (with R.Skår), and have received other National and local prizes, grants and awards for his work. In 2010 he received THE BUDDY AWARD, Norwegian Jazz highest award. In 2012 he received two more awards. Egil Storbekkens Musikkpris for his work with goat-horns and årets Musikkverk from NOPA, for his comission work to Vossa Jazz 2012 "Som spor" (Like traces)

Karl Seglem has toured Norway, Scandinavia and Germany, played in the UK, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Japan, Pakistan, Macedonia, Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Italy, Iceland, The Pharaoe Islands, USA among other countries.

UPCOMING

RECENT PRESS

Kreitzeitung.de, DE

“Seglem is one of the best in the Nordic jazz scene. He has grounded it with his compositions and at the same time renewed, he’s mixed the typical basic elements of jazz and folklore with a splash of wild Scandinavian nature. The result is a colorful soundscape full of energy and poetry.”

— Kreitzeitung.de

LIRA, SE

“With unremitting power, the music is blasting from the first song, a music that is hard to resist, like a heavy and powerful stream almost like a volcanic eruption.”

— LIRA

Dagbladet, NO

Kult Komplott, DE

“There are a number of people operating in these murky jazz-folk waters, not without some measure of success, but apart from Jan Garbarek at his best there is virtually no-one who approaches Karl Seglem’s eloquence and power.”

— Dagbladet

“What can I do other than recycle, buy less, stop throwing food away, stop flying,” he asks in an interview. Well, he plays with his music against this condition, draws attention, sensitizes for these topics. That sounds provocative and poetic, full of energy and touching, quiet, virtuosic and again quite modest. These are contrasts that the 57-year-old combines with his superbly performing band, both instrumentally and mentally”

— Kult Komplott