Hans Mathisen
Hans Mathisen, born in 1967, is one of the most revered guitarists in Norway. He has been part of the Scandinavian jazz scene since the early 90’s after he finished his studies in Trondheim at the famous jazz academy, NTNU.
His music is very melodic, and his sound is comparable to albums from ECM. He also has a particular and individual voice, which have roots in the great American history of jazz. He is a virtuoso with a sweet personal guitar-sound, and a great composer as well.
Mathisen has released six albums as a solo artist, each one with different line-up. Since then, he has released five albums of his own music under his own name. Guest artists on these albums are well known musicians from Norway and abroad. Mathisen were awarded the “Spellemannpris” in 2005 (the Norwegian Grammy award) for his first album, Quiet Songs.
In addition to albums with quartets and quintets Mathisen joined forces with the
Norwegian Broadcasting Symphony Orchestra (Orchestral Works, 2017), and the Royal Norwegian Navy Band (Timeless Tales, 2011). All of the music on these albums are composed and arranged by Mathisen.
Mathisen composed the score on the critically acclaimed “Kitchen Stories” by Bent Hamer in 2003, originally Norwegian title was “Salmer fra Kjøkkenet”.
In addition to his own albums Mathisen has been sideman on different projects,
among them bands with Arild Andersen (bass) and Jon Christensen (drums) - two of the most well-regarded jazz musicians from Norway and Europe - and other artists from the honored record label, ECM. Mathisen has also played with Paquito D’Rivera (US, Lars Danielsson (DK), Alex Acuna (US), Gary Husband (UK), Pepe Rivero (ES) and Walfredo Reyes Jr. (Chicago) (US).
He is also known as an excellent musical arranger and conductor for both symphony orchestras, big bands, and individual artists. He also composes music for films, shows and theatre. It’s worth highlighting the orchestral arrangement during the famous Nobel concert which marked the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo for many years..