Roger Arntzen
(b.1976, Bodø, Norway)
Coming from the northern part
of Norway Arntzen is one of the new interesting bass players on
the Norwegian jazz scene.
Arntzen started off playing accordeon at the age of five, moving
on to the tuba in high school, switched to electric bass and ended
up with the acoustic bass as his companion.
Arntzen is involved in different bands, such as the piano trio In
the Country with piano and keyboard player Morten Qvenild
and drummer Pål Hausken. In the Country has released three
beautiful albums on the Rune Grammofon label, This Was The Pace
Of My Heartbeat (2004), Losing Stones, Collecting Bones
(2006) and Whiteout (2009). They were awarded "Young
Jazz Musicians Of The Year 2004" in Norway. Downbeat
called their debut album "one of the finest and most arresting
albums to come out of Europe" that year, while All
About Jazz has already suggested Whiteout
as a contender for the "best of" list for 2009.
Arntzen is also the second half of Ballrogg,
an semi-improvised/semi-composed acoustic bass/reed duo. Together
with clarinet and alto sax player Klaus Ellerhusen Holm Ballrogg
has released their debut album in 2008. DownTown
Music Gallery says about Arntzen and
Ballrogg:
[...] Bassist Roger Arntzen is a perfect foil with an equally
luscious and enchanting tone. The title track features some superb,
haunting bass clarinet from Klaus, while "Hat and Beard" is done
in a most spirited way. Klaus' alto sax is often joyous and he does
sounds like Dolphy at times. On "Emphasis," his alto tone is sublime
with some equally tender acoustic bass. This song was written by
the great Jimmy Giuffre and it does capture his superb, contemplative
vibe. Considering that this is merely just a duo, they are well-matched
and consistently inspired throughout. Superbly recorded as well.
- BLG, Downtown Music Gallery
With guitarist Asbjørn Lerheim, Shining-leader and saxophone
player Jørgen Munkeby and drummer Torstein Lofthus Arntzen
makes the forth member of the noisewesternjazz quartet Chrome
Hill. They have released three albums, two of them
under the name Damp. Their third album Earthlings was the CD of
the Month in the German jaz site Nordische Musik and it was a part
of Øyafestivalens
2008´s "best of" list of Norwegian releases.
Arntzen is also part of Håvard
Stubø Trio, featuring the guitar player Håvard
Stubø and drummer Torstein Lofthus, and All
About Jazz says this about Arntzen and the trio:
At even the most remote and obscure festivals, there’s
almost always at least one "find." Sometimes it’s
a total unknown, sometimes an established musician lost amidst the
masses. Stuboe, the Oslo guitarist and composer, proved one of the
latter and his new trio was the highlight of this year’s Polarjazz
festival, at least for me and my traveling companions. [...] Arntzen
provided a smart, stable foundation of soft, thick-tone notes which
hit a sprinter’s pace during solos. Lofthus went for a less-is-more
approach on many solos, emphasizing one or two tones at a time,
moving through a few rotations of new ones, then finally bringing
them together for the climax. Interplay between the three was consistently
strong and seemed to connect well with the audience. [...]
- Mark Sabbatini, All About Jazz |
|
