Magnetic North Orchestra

This article is about the Norwegian jazz orchestra. For the British band, see The Magnetic North. For other uses, see Magnetic North (disambiguation).
Magnetic North Orchestra
OriginOslo, Norway
GenresJazz and contemporary music
Years active1992–2005
LabelsECM Records
MembersJon Balke
Per Jørgensen
Arve Henriksen
Jens Petter Antonsen
Morten Halle
Tore Brunborg
Fredrik Lundin
Bjarte Eike
Peter Spissky
Gertrud Økland
Henrik Hannisdal
Odd Hannisdal
Trond Villa
Marek Konstantynowicz
Jonas Franke-Blom
Svante Henryson
Morten Hannisdal
Thomas Pitt
Anders Jormin
Ingar Zach
Helge Norbakken
WebsiteMagnetic Music Official Website

Magnetic North Orchestra established in Oslo, Norway (1992–2005) was a Norwegian jazz orchestra, created and led by Jon Balke.[1] MNO was originally a jazz ensemble inspired by Oslo 13, put together with strings and percussion. As Olympic musical ambassador from 1993 to 1994, for the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer, Jon Balke created the work Magnetic North for a larger group, and under this name (MNO) he has toured in Europe, USA and Japan.[2]

MNO was further developed with fourteen string musicians from "Stavanger Symfoniorkester" for the production Grand Magnetic (2001), and in a version with the "TrondheimSolistene". After 2002 they had close cooperation with Balke's band Batagraf. The lineup has varied from seven to thirteen.[3]

Members

Commissioned Works

  • Il cenone (Vossajazz, 1992)
  • Magnetic North (OL Lillehammer, 1994)
  • Grand Magnetic (Copenhagen, 2001), augmented Magnetic North with a 14-piece string group[3]
  • ECM Autumn Cycle (Dublin, 2005)[8]

Discography

  • Further (ECM Records, 1992)[4]
  • Solarized (Emarcy, 1999)[5]
  • Kyanos (ECM, 2002)[6]
  • Diverted travels (ECM, 2004)[7]
  • Magnetic Works 1993-2001 (ECM, 2012), compilation[9]

On Video

  • Live in Bruxelles (Prospect Media, 2005), Video documentary
  • Magnetisk musiker (NRK, 2004), video portrait made by Audun Aagre

References

  1. ^ "Magnetic North Orchestra - Bransjeregister MIC.no".
  2. ^ "Jon Balke Biography - SNL.no". 25 February 2020. Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian
  3. ^ a b "Jon Balke & Magnetic North Orchestra Biography - GubeMusic.com".
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Further - ECMrecords.com". 19 August 2012.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Magnetic North Orchestra: Solarized - Puls.no".
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Magnetic North Orchestra Kyanos Review -". BBC.co.uk
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Jon Balke and Magnetic North Orchestra: Diverted travels - Listen to Norway MIC.no". Archived from the original on 2010-05-28. (by Tomas Lauvland Pettersen)
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Live Reviews: ECM Autumn Cycle – Jon Balke's Magnetic North Orchestra Whelan's, Dublin, 17 November 2005 - JournalOfMusic.com".
  9. ^ "Magnetic Works 1993-2001 - ECMrecords.com". Archived from the original on 2016-01-16. Retrieved 2012-09-08.