Status Active Date(s) March - April Location Voss | Genre Jazz Festival Frequency Annually Phone +47 56 52 99 11 | |
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Begins 7 April 2017 (2017-04-07) Ends 9 April 2017 (2017-04-09) Address Vangsgata 28, 5700 Voss, Norway Profiles | ||
Gisle torvik eple trio karl seglem vossajazz 2014
Vossajazz or Vossa Jazz (established 19 December 1973) is an international jazz festival in Voss, Norway, which takes place annually during the week before Easter, and which also includes concerts throughout the year.
Contents
History
The first festival in 1974 was held the same weekend as the World Cup in Alpine skiing at Voss. The idea was that ski and jazz fit together. Since 1986 the festival has always taken place during the palm weekend. From 2007, the festival director has been Trude Storheim.
In 1980 Vossajazz brought Rune Gustafsson and Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen together for a power session in the old Voss cinema. This cooperation led to the album Just The Way You Are (1980). Vossajazz includes jazz, folk and ethnic music. There is also Badnajazz for the children, Ekstremjazz (not part of Ekstremsportveko, the extreme sports week also held in Voss), Eldrejazz and UNGjaJAZZja!. In addition the festival annually commissions a piece of music from Norwegian composers.
The 2016 edition of Vossajazz was a musical event with a nice blend of differt impressions. The Down Beat report gives the festival splended reviews and opens with stating: "A warm bath of synchronicity hit the lakeside town of Voss, Norway, in the heart of the 43rd annual Vossa Jazz Festival. The blissful sense of convergence of elements came courtesy of respected and increasingly international Hardanger fiddle master Nils Okland, during his contribution to the long history of the festival’s keynote commissioned work (or “Tingingsverket”)."
Vossajazzprisen
Since 1988 the festival has honoured prominent freelance jazz musicians from Hordaland with an award, including:
Vossajazz Records
Several recordings made at the festival have been issued on Vossajazz's own label, Vossa Jazz Records.