One of the highlights of this year’s festival! MaiJazz is thrilled to present a vital combo – an American-Norwegian collaboration that has spanned 12 years, earned ecstatic reviews, but never before played on a Stavanger stage.
Pianist Jason Moran and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra first met in 2013 when Moran was Artist in Residence at the Molde Jazz Festival, and they have since captivated audiences in Oslo and Trondheim multiple times. In 2025, their collaboration resulted in a downloadable album, Go To Your North.
Moran first drew attention in the late 1990s after exploring hip-hop, turning to jazz upon hearing Thelonious Monk’s Round About Midnight, and graduating from the Manhattan School of Music. Since then, he has worked with many jazz legends, led his own bands, and frequently ranked highly in polls such as “Pianist of the Year” and “Jazz Musician of the Year”. Moran defies stylistic categorisation; he combines a modern approach with hard-swinging bebop and modal jazz, creatively draws on the legacy of Monk and Fats Waller, and often incorporates elements of hip-hop and funk.
Since the turn of the millennium, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra has established itself as one of Norway’s most exciting improvisational ensembles. Emerging from the jazz programme at NTNU, the orchestra today functions more as an ongoing project than a fixed band, with a flexible structure and line-up tailored to each project.
Trondheim Jazz Orchestra has gained international recognition by inviting foreign stars such as Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Joshua Redman, and now Jason Moran, with the guest artists’ own compositions arranged by the orchestra’s talented members. Any initial scepticism from visiting stars has quickly vanished. Corea was completely captivated, toured multiple times with the orchestra, and brought it to New York to celebrate his 75th birthday at the Blue Note jazz club. Several recordings have also followed.
While longtime conductor Erling Skomsvoll led the collaboration with Corea, it is the orchestra’s bassist and artistic director from 2017 to 2025, Ole Morten Vågan, who arranged Moran’s music.
Prepare for an intense and unforgettable experience!
Jason Moran – piano
Sofia Jernberg – voice
Henriette Eilertsen – flute
Mette Rasmussen – alto saxophone
Jonas Kullhammar – tenor saxophone, flute
Karl Hjalmar Nyberg – tenor saxophone
Eirik Hegdal – baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone
Eivind Lønning – trumpet
Josefin Runsteen – violin, viola
Hans Hulbækmo – drums
Anja Lauvdal – synth/electronics
Daniel Herskedal – tuba
Joel Ring – cello
Ole Morten Vågan – bass, arrangements
Tor Breivik – sound engineer