Stian Westerhus (born 2 April 1979) is a Norwegian guitarist known for his experimental style, explored with keyboardist Øystein Moen in the bands Jaga Jazzist and Puma and with Sidsel Endresen, Nils Petter Molvær, Arve Henriksen, Jan Bang, and Ingar Zach.[1]

Stian Westerhus
Background information
Born (1979-04-02) 2 April 1979 (age 45)
Steinkjer, Nord-Trøndelag, Norway
GenresJazz
OccupationMusician
InstrumentGuitar
Websitestianwesterhus.com

Career

edit
 
Henriksen/Bang/Westerhus/Zach
at Vossajazz April 11, 2014.
 
Stian Westerhus at Vossajazz 2014.

Westerhus holds a bachelor in jazz from Middlesex University under Stuart Hall, and a master from the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium, (NTNU, 2005).[2]

He was first recognised by a broader audience within the experimental jazz band Puma, with whom he released four albums. The soloalbum Pitch Black Star Spangled (2010) on Rune Grammofon got some attention in reviews.[1]

The album Didymoi Dreams (2012) is his debut as a duo with experimental jazz singer Sidsel Endresen, a meeting of experience insane guitar rhythms with a gibberish vocal world.[3] They have been of great inspiration to new experimental Norwegian musicians like Natalie Sandtorv and Torgeir Standal in The Jist duo.[4]

edit

Honors

edit

Discography

edit

Solo albums

edit
  • 2009: Galore (Rune Grammofon/The Last Record Company)
  • 2010: Pitch Black Star Spangled (Rune Grammofon)[1]
  • 2012: The Matriarch and the Wrong Kind of Flowers (Rune Grammofon)
  • 2016: Amputation (House of Mythology)
  • 2020: Redundance (House of Mythology)
  • 2023: SOTT (House of Mythology)

Collaborations

edit
With Puma
  • 2007: Isolationism (Bolage Records)
  • 2008: Discotheque Bitpunching (Bolage Records)
  • 2009: Fist Full of Knuckles with Lasse Marhaug (Knuckleman Records)
  • 2010: Half Nelson Courtship (Rune Grammofon)
With Fraud
  • 2007: Fraud (The Babel Labell UK)
With Terje Isungset
With Monolithic
  • 2009: Black Science (RoggBif/Vendlus)
With Bladed
  • 2009: Mangled Dreams (Crispin Glover Records)
With Eldbjørg Raknes and Eirik Hegdal
  • 2009: From Frozen Feet Heat Came (MyRecordings)
With Sidsel Endresen
With BOL
  • 2012: Numb, Number (Gigafon)
With Pale Horses
  • 2014: Maelstrom (Rune Grammofon), as Stian Westerhus & Pale Horses
With Ulver

As producer

edit

Awards and scholarships

edit
  • 2010 - Sparebank 1 SNM's jazz scholarship awarded at Moldejazz.[5]
  • 2008 - BBC’s Award for Innovation in Jazz with Fraud
  • 2007 - Sparebank 1 SNM's jazz talent scholarship awarded at Moldejazz
  • 2007 - Ronnie Scott's Award for Best Newcomer 2007 (UK) with Fraud
  • 2006 - Trondheim Jazz Festival's talent prize with Bladed
  • 2006 - Moldejazz's young jazz musician of the year with Puma

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c Kelman, John (2012-06-27). "Stian Westerhus: Pitch Black Star Spangled (2010)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2014-11-05.
  2. ^ "Jazzlinja". Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  3. ^ Furu, Svein Magnus (2012-06-28). "Vennlig holmgang". Music Reviews (in Norwegian). Morgenbladet. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  4. ^ Hareuveni, Eyal (2014-05-02). "The Jist: The Jist (2014)". All About Jazz. Retrieved 2015-11-07.
  5. ^ "Jazznytt". Jazznytt.no. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
edit
Awards
Preceded by Recipient of the Jazz Spellemannprisen
2012
Succeeded by