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Helge Lien
Helge Lien
	Helge Lien in Aarhus, Denmark 2016.
Background information
Born	23 April 1975 (age 49); Moelv, Ringsaker, Norway
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instrument	Piano
Labels	Ozella Music; Curling Legs ; DIW Records; Jazzaway Records
Website	helgelien.com

Helge Lien (born 23 April 1975) is a Norwegian jazz pianist, composer and band leader.^[1] He has in recent years also developed a passion for photography and digital processing of images and has passion for powerful melancholy, dynamics and detail.^[2]

Education

Lien attended Stange High School 1991 and earned his Examen artium in 1994, before taking up musical studies at Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. He got a Cand.mag. in 1998 under guidance of Mikhail Alperin, known as pianist of the Moscow Art Trio and from solo performances and recordings, and did postgraduate studies with the group Tri O'Trang culminating with cand.musicae exam in 2001.

Career

Lien is known from a variety of musical contexts, such as Tri O'Trang (with Torben Snekkestad on sax and Lars Andreas Haug on tuba), Helge Lien Trio, the duo Hero with saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrom, and with the vocalists Live Maria Roggen and Silje Nergaard.

The last decade Lien has given us a lot of evidence that a new Norwegian pianist of a very high caliber has entered the Jazz scene. We have encountered him in various constellations from solo piano, duos and as sideman, but it is first and foremost with Helge Lien Trio that he has moved up and out among the truly great. Here we can encounter, more than any other classic piano trio, the balance between jazz tradition and improvisation avantgardist excellent. With their seven albums and thrilling live performances they have already earned a large fan base, and when the Helge Lien Trio completed their first tour of Germany on the Berlin Jazz Club A-Trane in 2008, the album Hello Troll was the first Helge Lien Trio release for Ozella Music in Germany.^[3] This album was in many ways the ultimate breakthrough for Helge Lien Trio, although four previous releases on the Japanese DIW company had told us what Lien had to offer.^[4]

Lien, who has written all the music on the latest Helge Lien Trio album Natsukashii, is a melodic poet in temperament. In this classic trio format there are lots of references to trios with giants like Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett but even more obvious are the links to the Brad Mehldau trio, which set a new standard for jazz trio for the new 2000 millennium. Along with bassist Frode Berg and drummer Knut Aalefjær, who was substituted with Per Oddvar Johansen from 2013, Lien has taken new steps over again and it is up to that category Helge Lien Trio is also moving.^[4]^[5]

Honors

2002: Norwegian Government Grants
2007: Nattjazzprisen
2008: Spellemannprisen in the class Jazz
2008: Kongsberg Jazz Award^[6]

Discography

As leader/co-leader

Year recorded	Title	Label	Notes
2000	Talking to a Tree	Lydlauget ANS	Solo piano^[7]
2000	Liker	Nor-CD	As Tri O'Trang; trio, with Torben Snekkestad (sax), Lars Andreas Haug (tuba)^[7]
2001	What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life	Curling Legs	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums)^[8]
2002	Spiral Circle	DIW	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums)^[7]
2002	Fordivi	Challenge	As Tri O'Trang; trio, with Torben Snekkestad (sax, bass clarinet), Lars Andreas Haug (tuba, trumpet)^[7]
2003	Asymmetrics	DIW	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums)^[9]
2005	Live	Curling Legs	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums); in concert^[7]
2005	Plays Jon Eberson	Curling Legs	As Tri O'Trang, quintet, with Torben Snekkestad (sax), Lars Andreas Haug (tuba), Jon Eberson (guitar), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums)^[7]
2005	Prøysen – musikken fra dokumentaren	Jazzavdelingen	As Hero; duo, with Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (sax)^[7]
2006	The Discovery & Exploration of Planet HERO	Jazzaway	As Hero; duo, with Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (sax)^[7]
2006	Må	Curling Legs	As Tri O'Trang; trio, with Torben Snekkestad (sax, bass clarinet), Lars Andreas Haug (tuba, valve trombone)^[7]
2006	To the Little Radio	DIW	Trio^[7]
2008	Hello Troll	Ozella	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums);^[10] Spellemannprisen 2008^[7]
2010	Natsukashii	Ozella	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Knut Aalefjær (drums); released 2011^[8]
2011	Kattenslager	Ozella/Musikklosen	Solo piano^[7]^[11]
2012?	Memnon	Ozella	Duo, co-led with Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer (vocals)^[7]^[11]
2013	Badgers and Other Beings	Ozella	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums)^[7]^[12]
2015	Bridges	ACT	Co-led with Adam Baldych (violin); quartet, with Frode Berg (bass), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums)^[7]
2016	Guzuguzu	Ozella	Trio, with Frode Berg (bass), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums)^[7]

Collaborations

With LiveLien

2011: Låvesalg (Jazzland/Universal)
2016: YOU (Ozella)

With Arild Andersen and Gard Nilssen

2016: The Rose Window (Deutsche Media Productions), live at Theater Gütersloh

References

^ "Helge Lien Biography – Store Norske Leksikon". 12 February 2021.
^ "Helge Lien – iDekor.no".
^ "Helge Lien Trio – jena.de" (in German). Archived from the original on 6 February 2013.
^ ^a ^b "Helge Lien Trio – Victoria Nasjonal Jazzscene" (in Norwegian). 12 August 2024.
^ "Review: Helge Lien Trio – Musik-Kritik" (in German). 18 May 2023.
^ "DnB NOR prize for Helge Lien". Archived from the original on 10 August 2011.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p "Albums". helgelien.com. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^ ^a ^b Kelman, John (17 August 2011). "Helge Lien Trio: Natsukashii". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^ Wuethrich, Matthew (2 July 2004). "Helge Lien Trio: Asymmetrics". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^ Henderson, Alex. "Helge Lien: Hello Troll". AllMusic. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^ ^a ^b Shaw, Anthony (11 July 2013). "Ruth Wilhelmine Meyer and Helge Lien: Memnon". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
^ Baekgaard, Jakob (9 July 2014). "Helge Lien Trio: Badgers and Other Beings". All About Jazz. Retrieved 24 December 2021.

External links

Awards
Preceded by Kjetil Møster	Recipient of the Nattjazzprisen 2007	Succeeded by No reward in 2008
Preceded by Petter Wettre	Recipient of the Jazz Spellemannprisen 2008	Succeeded by Tord Gustavsen Ensemble
Preceded by Morten Qvenild	Recipient of the Kongsberg Jazz Award 2008	Succeeded by Ole Morten Vågan