Ola Kvernberg (born 16 June 1981) is a Norwegian jazz musician known for his virtuosic string swing violin playing and his international performances. He is the son of traditional musicians Liv Rypdal Kvernberg and Torbjørn Kvernberg, and the brother of traditional musicians Kari Kvernberg Dajani and fiddler Jorun Marie Kvernberg,[1] and grandson of the fiddler and traditional music composer Peter L. Rypdal. Kvernberg studied classical violin from the age of nine, and won 3rd prize in a great classical violin competition in Italy when he was fourteen.[2][3]
String swing with Hot Club de Norvège
Kvernbergn at Vossajazz 2014.
Kvernberg was born in Fræna. He began to play folk music at an early age and was classically trained through the municipal music school. His first record release was with the band Fear of flying in 1995. Two years later, when he was 16, he began playing jazz, and was educated on the Jazz program at Trondheim musikkonservatorium (2001–03).[3][4]
Kvernberg spontaneously became known after a meeting with Hot Club de Norvège in 2000 during the annual Django Festival in Oslo, where he actually jammed with Toots Thielemans. This gave rise to release album Hot Club de Norvege presenting Ola Kvernberg and Jimmy Rosenberg (2000), the solo release Ola Kvernberg (2001), as well as participation on the record Angelo is back in town with Angelo Debarre (2001), which he also played with at the Django Festival in January 2002. In April 2002, Ola was soloist on Jon Larsen's jazz symphony White Night Stories, together with Hot Club de Norvège and Tromsø Symphony Orchestra, and on two recordings with this project.[5]
His own trio
Ola Kvernberg Trio with Steinar Raknes (bass) and Doug Raney (guitar) released the album Cats and Doug (Hot Club Records, 2002).
Erik Nylander (drums) replaced Raney on the production of Eboue Seck's Wolof Experience at
(Moldejazz 2005). On Vossajazz 2006, they play with Vidar Busk, accompanied by Håkon Mjåset Johansen (drums). The trio (with Nylander/Raknes) released the album Night (Jazzland, 2006) with the Kvernberg's own compositions. People was published in 2009. The commissioned work Liarbird to the Jazz 2010 was released. For the record Liarbird he won the Spellemannprisen 2011 in the class jazz.[6][7]
He is portrayed in the Stein Kagge's book Fra Satchmo til Ola Kvernberg (2001), and he is the brother of traditional musician Jorun Marie Kvernberg (1979).
Ola Kvernberg, Erik Nylander and Steinar Raknes with the Jazzland Community at the Jazz club Sardinen, USF Verftet in November 2012.
Honors
2010: Amanda Award, nominated, in the category best soundtrack for the movie Nord.
2011: Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammys) winner, Jazz album of the year, for Liarbird
2010: Nord Film Music (Jazzland Recordings), trio including Andreas Aase (guitars, mandolin, dobro) and Stian Carstensen (banjo), Ola Kvernbergs Filmmscore for the critically acclaimed Erlend Loe movie Nord[12]
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