Welcome to the Official website of Maria Kannegaard, pianist and composer and Norwegian Grammy winner for her latest album, "Sand i en vik".

Bio

Pianist and composer Maria Kannegaard, born in Denmark in 1970, has lived in Norway since she was 10 years old. She began composing as a 5-year-old and studied classical piano for 10 years. Music basic subject at the University of Oslo. At this time she formed her first band playing self-composed music, Alibi (quintet). She began Jazz studies in Trondheim in 1992 as the first female instrumentalist there. She has stayed in Trondheim since her final exam. 

Struggling with illness from the age of 23 she has been inactive as a musician intermittently throughout her career. She recorded her first trio album "Breaking the Surface" for the German company ACT in 2000, and since then has released a number of albums, and participated in numerous others. She has played at many festivals, both home and abroad. 

In 2010 she received the DnB NOR award and the Kongsberg Jazz Festival's major musician award. 

In 2011 she wrote the commissioned concert "Tomorrow And The Porch" for Kongsberg Jazz Festival (the concert was later released on live album in 2017). 

She was appointed NTNU Ambassador 2012/2013 by NTNU during Trondheim Jazz Festival in 2012. 

She wrote the commissioned work "Før eller siden er det nå" for Trondheim Jazz Festival and Moldejazz 2013 (the concert was released on live album in 2017). 

She received NOPA's music award for 2019 for the work "Nådeslås". 

She was nominated for the Spellemann Prize (Norwegian Grammy) in 2019 in the jazz class for the solo album "Nådeslås". 

She won the Spellemann Prize in 2020 in the jazz class for the Trio album "Sand i en vik".

I first met Maria Kannegaard as a 16-year-old extremely talented piano player, and have been following her ever since, watching her uniqueness and originality grow year by year. Maria seems always to be searching for new ways of composing and playing music, chords and musical structures. Her latest release “Sand i en vik” just won a Norwegian Grammy - So well-deserved!” - Bugge Wesseltoft

Music

Sand i en vik

Maria Kannegaard

Maria Kannegaard presents "Sand i en vik", a rapid follow-up to the album "Nådeslås". Where that latter album was an experimental and expressive affair, the former sees her return to more familiar musical pastures, although with a different viewpoint and attitude. Kannegaard's piano playing remains immaculate, never cluttered or wasteful, always
Maria Kannegaard presents "Sand i en vik", a rapid follow-up to the album "Nådeslås". Where that latter album was an experimental and expressive affair, the former sees her return to more familiar musical pastures, although with a different viewpoint and attitude. Kannegaard's piano playing remains immaculate, never cluttered or wasteful, always conveying the right mood or emotion, the perfectly balanced response to both the composition and the development of it.

The album opening - "1-2-3" - literally crashes in, and then we are met by strong melody, quick-change artistry in time and tempo, extended playing techniques, expressionistic soloing, complex minimalism (but not minimal complexity) and a full array of compositional trickery and sleights of hand across the album's 13 tracks. The other two thirds of her trio, Ole Morten Vågan and Thomas Stronen operate as though sharing a single mind. They are capable of casual looseness or tense inch-perfect interplay, each laden with an armory of techniques they sparingly pepper their playing with, often fulfilling the listener's expectations, but just as frequently defying them with unexpected but always welcome results.

The compositions carry their own moods and unique characteristics, their own internal tensions, sometimes haunting, sometimes exuberant, sometimes seeming stretched to a breaking point. Plantive ballads sit alongside riff-driven stompers, moments of abstract expressionism interweave with stop-start angular motifs, unexpected harmonizations, and moments that seem to be formless before revealing themselves to be details within a larger, clearer picture.

Frequently sounding like much more than a trio, the album is mixed and mastered by the award-winning Stefano Amerio at Artesuono recording studios.

Maria Kannegaard's musical personality has always been multifaceted, catching and reflecting the light, even through shadows. "Sand i en vik" is the work of an artist who has taken difficulty and adversity and transmuted it into lavish creativity.
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    1-2-3 0:19
    0:00/0:19
  2. 2
    0:00/5:13
  3. 3
    0:00/5:58
  4. 4
    0:00/5:39
  5. 5
    0:00/7:41
  6. 6
    0:00/10:47
  7. 7
    0:00/9:41
  8. 8
    0:00/2:48
  9. 9
    0:00/5:32
  10. 10
    0:00/7:49
  11. 11
    Dere 6:40
    0:00/6:40
  12. 12
    0:00/1:03
  13. 13
    0:00/2:59

Nådeslås

Maria Kannegaard

Maria Kannegaard releases her first album in 6 years, "Nådeslås" is the title of this vinyl.

The music was written and recorded in a difficult period in Maria's life and tells of her struggle with life while maintaining this musical process.

Maria: "During this time I bought many different instruments from around the world and formed an
Maria Kannegaard releases her first album in 6 years, "Nådeslås" is the title of this vinyl.

The music was written and recorded in a difficult period in Maria's life and tells of her struggle with life while maintaining this musical process.

Maria: "During this time I bought many different instruments from around the world and formed an orchestra where I myself was the orchestra. When I played, I moved into new musical landscapes with a different character than before. This is music from the inside and out of how I felt it was to be there every now and then. I usually started with a musical idea, and then I developed it further using various instrument combinations. Music is, and also more especially during this period, essential to me. "Nådeslås" is a personal musical imprint of a time that fortunately is over, but it is very important to me that I created this music".

Maria Kannegaard is one of the most musical people I know. She has an indomitable belief in love as energy through music. Maria is now working with her amazing trio again. The band performed newly written music with great success at Trondheim Jazzfest recently. It's joyful!

Bugge Wesseltoft
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    0:00/9:14
  2. 2
    0:00/4:28
  3. 3
    Homsk 7:57
    0:00/7:57
  4. 4
    0:00/12:21
  5. 5
    0:00/3:39
  6. 6
    0:00/5:15

Kongsberg Jazzfestival 2011 / Trondheim Jazzfestival 2013

Maria Kannegaard

Maria Kannegaard returns to Jazzland with a brand new double live album! Two separate concerts recorded 2 years apart with two different line-ups that expand her usual trio format, the result is a perfect diptych that shows Kannegaard's compositional skills are on a permanent upward trajectory.

"Tomorrow and The Porch" is the title of the first
Maria Kannegaard returns to Jazzland with a brand new double live album! Two separate concerts recorded 2 years apart with two different line-ups that expand her usual trio format, the result is a perfect diptych that shows Kannegaard's compositional skills are on a permanent upward trajectory.

"Tomorrow and The Porch" is the title of the first set, recorded at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in July, 2011, and features vocalist Siri Gjære (who also provided the lyrics) in perfect form. Kannegaard's standard rhythm section of Ole Morten Vågan (Bass) and Thomas Strönen (Drums) is given additional expansion to include Jazzland regular Ola Kvernberg (violin), and the resulting sound is something utterly different from anything Kannegaard has released before. Where her previous albums for Jazzland ("Quiet Joy" and "Camel Walk") hinted at a composer who was clearly more than capable of creating arrangements with song-like qualities, here we are given irrefutable proof that she has a well-defined and important contribution to make to songwriting. At the same time, her penchant for mixing generic tropes in new ways remains joyfully intact, her further use of electronics adds greater textural colouring, and the structural and textural variations - as well as the improvisational passages - come to the fore at just the right moments.

The second set, entitled "Før eller siden er det nå" was recorded at the Trondheim Jazz Festival in May, 2013. This set further develops the musical explorations found on "Tomorrow and The Porch", refining some, expanding most, and venturing into new territory. The Kongsberg line-up is also expanded to include Per Jørgensen (Trumpet, vocals, and percussion) and Ståle Storløkken (Synthesizer). This set is an abstract journey of a kind, riddled with both earthly and cosmic qualities. Moments of naïve or childlike piano leap into complex textural explorations, post-minimalist rhythmic mazes are woven like Belle Époque radio towers, erratic whimsical moments launch into headlong dives towards unexpectedly serene landings. Melodies come and go like beloved guests, each treated with warmth in what would be – in lesser hands – a hostile environment. Kannegaard and her ensemble show exactly what taste and refinement, in musical terms, actually means.
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    0:00/6:34
  2. 2
    0:00/3:04
  3. 3
    Want 8:11
    0:00/8:11
  4. 4
    0:00/4:56
  5. 5
    Hazy 7:25
    0:00/7:25
  6. 6
    Crazy 6:50
    0:00/6:50
  7. 7
    0:00/3:43
  8. 8
    0:00/4:26
  9. 9
    Frem 7:00
    0:00/7:00
  10. 10
    6:19
    0:00/6:19
  11. 11
    0:00/9:16
  12. 12
    0:00/7:05
  13. 13
    0:00/5:05
  14. 14
    0:00/9:50
  15. 15
    0:00/7:21

Camel Walk

Maria Kannegaard Trio

Camel Walk (Jazzland, 2008) is pianist Maria Kannegaard's third album, recorded as a trio together with Ole Morten Vågan on contra bass, and Thomas Strønen on drums. After her initial releases of 2000s "Breaking the Surface" (Act), and her second studio album of 2005, "Quiet Joy" (Jazzland), we are again warmly welcomed into Kannegaard's exquisite
Camel Walk (Jazzland, 2008) is pianist Maria Kannegaard's third album, recorded as a trio together with Ole Morten Vågan on contra bass, and Thomas Strønen on drums. After her initial releases of 2000s "Breaking the Surface" (Act), and her second studio album of 2005, "Quiet Joy" (Jazzland), we are again warmly welcomed into Kannegaard's exquisite style.

Consisting of ten songs composed by Kannegaard, we are taken on something of a musical journey. "Drifting Down the Nile" opens the album, followed by the irking "Haunted". You may notice that this time, Kannegaard's usually developed soloing is on this album is placed within the context of a collective sound. We pause briefly to reflect over "A Cup of Coffee and Some Danish Pastries" before we embark on the title track, "Camel Walk". You may also notice the cross-cultural pollination of jazz, singer/songwriter style, avant garde and indie rock flavorings. Further on, we are introduced to Kannegaard's impeccable technique and expressiveness, as well as through "Sliding Doors", "Traveling Pass" and finally, "We Interrupt for a Short Commercial". It is the welcoming tone of the album overall which places it firmly in one of the most intriguing chamber jazz recordings of the year.

We can hear touches of Kannegaard's influences, such as the music of Keith Jarret and Bill Evans in her improvisational skills, and in the disjointed melodic structures of Geri Allen and Herbie Nichols, two composers and performers very near to her heart. However, it is her own style that breaks through, and fused with Thomas Strønen's always perceptive percussion and Ole Morten Vågan's artfully syncopated bass, it all comes together as an organic whole, a true hallmark of Norwegian jazz.

The piano trio never sounded so modern, yet respectfully pays tribute to the traditions of the past, however enveloping them in Kannegaard's forward-looking style. Produced by the trio themselves, Camel Walk places them firmly in a new direction, more immediate and powerful, and marks Maria Kannegaard as a vibrant force within the jazz arena.
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    0:00/7:39
  2. 2
    0:00/2:30
  3. 3
    0:00/3:50
  4. 4
    0:00/5:01
  5. 5
    Bits 5:46
    0:00/5:46
  6. 6
    0:00/2:33
  7. 7
    0:00/4:47
  8. 8
    0:00/4:17
  9. 9
    0:00/5:18
  10. 10
    0:00/1:28

Quiet Joy

Maria Kannegaard Trio

"Quiet Joy" is pianist Maria Kannegaard's second album, and as the title suggests, it reveals two seemingly disparate elements. Two seemingly opposite states of emotions combined to create something new, a combustive effect of creating an effusive, personalized style within instrumental jazz.
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    0:00/4:22
  2. 2
    0:00/5:09
  3. 3
    Waves 2:43
    0:00/2:43
  4. 4
    0:00/2:57
  5. 5
    0:00/4:51
  6. 6
    0:00/3:17
  7. 7
    0:00/3:56
  8. 8
    0:00/5:54
  9. 9
    0:00/6:37
  10. 10
    Here 4:17
    0:00/4:17
  11. 11
    0:00/4:34
  12. 12
    Us 3:46
    0:00/3:46
  13. 13
    0:00/2:41

Maryland

Live

Maryland

Live recording at The Vossajazz Festival, April, 2008 from from the impressive Norwegian ensemble of pianist Maria Kannegaard, saxophonist Hakon Kornstad, bassist Ole Morten Vagan, and drummer Hakon Mjaset Johansen. Expressive, lyrical, and dramatic music that incorporates a wide range of concepts, textures and strategies.
Read more…
0:00/???
  1. 1
    0:00/6:32
  2. 2
    0:00/6:14
  3. 3
    0:00/8:20
  4. 4
    0:00/15:57
  5. 5
    0:00/5:45
  6. 6
    0:00/9:54
  7. 7
    0:00/4:52
  8. 8
    0:00/3:33

Video

Contact