Festival Review: NattJazz 2003 in Bergen, Norway

By I Jun. 12, 2003

An eclectic assortment of headliners including Nigeria’s Femi Kuti, Tuvan throat singer Sainkho, America’s Ahmad Jamal, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Chris Potter, Russia’s Simon Nabatov and Belgium’s Zap Mama gave the first six days of NattJazz (Night Jazz) 2003, held May 21-31 in Bergen, Norway, a decidedly international accent. While the four final days of the 31st edition of one of this country’s leading jazz showcases included sets by the Italian duo of pianist Rita Marcotulli and vocalist Maria Pia de Vito and the Australian trio The Necks and solo flights by the Dutch drummer Han Bennink and the French-Croatian pianist Bojan Z, the festival’s conclusion had a pronounced Scandinavian flavor with a particular emphasis on native Norwegian artists.

Even the most informed follower of the international jazz scene could be forgiven for thinking that the Norwegian jazz scene consisted solely of such high profile artists as saxophonist Jan Garbarek, guitarist Terje Rypdal and trumpeter Nils-Petter Molvær along with the other more obscure folk, chamber jazz and electronica artists and bands featured on Manfred Eicher’s productions for ECM Records. Yet as NattJazz revealed, Norway has a remarkably diverse and vibrant jazz scene for a country about the size of California with a population one third of New York City’s. Perhaps this a positive by-product of the Nordic nation’s North Atlantic location: Musicians living in a country whose seemingly interminable sub-arctic winters are characterized by months of limited daylight make the best of the situation by holing up in their home studios and wood-shedding.

The final weekend of NattJazz 2003 had something for nearly every possible improvised music taste with even a little pop and folk music thrown in for variety. Jon Balke’s group Batagraf created an orgy of percussion spiced up with a dash of electronics. Wibutee, whose intense saxophonist is challenged to float his solos above a throbbing drum and bass accompaniment, proved why it is the current favorite of Norway’s flourishing eletronica scene. The quintet Motif revealed a profound respect for Ornette and the landmark work of other free-jazz pioneers while the miniature grand piano Christian Wallumrød used during his ensemble’s concert of chamber jazz redefined intimacy. Concerts by dance club darlings Koop and Gotan Project as well as by the jazz-influenced Swedish pop singer Lisa Nilsson attracted SRO crowds that filled NattJazz’s main venue, the fish factory’s former smoke-room, to capacity. Those attending these events got a good idea of what it must feel like to be packed tightly together in a can of King Oscar sardines.

While the younger bands made up for what they might lack in experience with an abundance of energy and enthusiasm, the most magical moment at NattJazz for this attendee was a performance by the trio of Rypdal, trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg and harpist Helen Davies. The festival takes place several weeks before the Summer Solstice, a part of the year when it never gets dark in some parts of Scandinavia, but it was still surreal to see the sun set after 10 p.m. and be cloaked in a combination of dusk and dawn that goes on for hours. The sounds created by these veteran improvisers provided the perfect musical accompaniment for the ambience outdoors and a fitting soundtrack to the eternal twilight that settles over Bergen during the 10 days of NattJazz.

Mitchell Feldman