Karin Krog.
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Karin Krog. |
Started singing jazz in her teens, in groups with pianists Jan Erik Wahl, Alfred Janson and Kåre Grøttum, was a sensation at a Penguin jazz club jam in 1955, was hired by Kjell Karlsen (the KAHENA sextet 1955-1956) and made her radio debut March 1956. From then on Karin Krog has been considered one of our foremost jazz singers, with a growing international reputation.
In 1957 she was hired by Åge Kjelstrup at the Humlen restaurant, where she played with Mikkel Flagstad, Einar Iversen and others, played with their groups at concerts towards the end of the 1950s, she also made radio appearances with Leiv Flisnes (1958) and John Svendsen (1959), and came first in the Verdensrevyen musicians poll 1959.
At the first Molde festival in 1961 she sang with Kjell Karlsen's quartet, had her own groups from 1962 while singing with Frode Thingnæs' quintet, Egil Kapstad's trio (1962-1964) and studying with Anne Brown (1962-1969). Karin Krog made her record debut on the LP "Metropol Jazz" 1963, recorded a couple of singles and released her LP "By Myself" in 1964, played at the 1964 Antibes and Kongsberg festivals and from then on she was established as a professional musician.
She received the Buddy award in 1965, the year that saw the breakdown of the Norwegian network of jazz clubs. Karin Krog and her friends took the matter in their own hands and set up the Norwegian Jazz Forum, with her as the first leader. (1965-1966). She continued with quartets and quintets in her own name, sang with Egil Kapstad's groups, recorded singles with the Public Enemies rhythm & blues band (1966) and set out on a long string of concerts abroad; Warszawa and Prague 1966, Hamburg and Berlin 1967, in the US with Don Ellis and Clare Fischer 1967 (topping Down Beat's critics poll in the class "Artists deserving of wider recognition"), Norway's EBU artist at Brussels 1967, her own quintet at Montreux 1968.
In 1966 she released her second LP "Jazz Moments" (featuring Jan Garbarek) , recorded singles with Don Ellis 1967, the LP "Joy" 1968, the single "Break of Day in Molde" 1969, she sang with Fred Nøddelund's big orchestra (1968 and 1970), went on a duo tour with Arild Andersen 1969, studied singing with Ivo Knecevic (1969-1972) and received a government stipend to travel and study 1970.
A list of Karin Krog's exploits could fill many pages. Among further recordings let's mention Down Beat Poll Winners in Berlin 1969, her LP "Some other Spring" with Dexter Gordon 1970 (Record of the Year in Japan 1971), European Poll Winners at Osaka 1970, New Jazz Ensemble 1971, Popofoni 1969-1971, LP "Krog + Gershwin" (featuring Bjarne Nerem and Egil Kapstad) 1973-1974, "You must Believe in Spring" with Palle Mikkelborg's orchestra 1974, "We Could be Flying" with the Steve Kuhn trio 1974, "Jazz Jamboree" from Warsaw 1975 and the album "Different Days, Different Ways" released 1976. She had prolonged stays in the US 1970 and 1971, received a Government work stipend 1971-1974, headed the European workshop at Kongsberg 1972, toured with pianist Rodney Bennett 1973 ("Synthesis"), was Spellemann of the Year 1974 in Norway and European Jazz Federation Female Vocalist of the Year 1975.
For a large part of the 1970s she had bands of Norwegian musicians, but from the mid 1970s she has often worked in smaller formats, mainly in a duo with John Surman (LPs "Cloud Line Blue" 1976-1977 and "Freestyle" 1985, a duo concert at Molde 1997 and the CD "Bluesand" 1999 - the latter bringing a Spellemann award), also with Bengt Hallberg ("A Song For You" 1977 and "Two of a Kind" 1982), a trio LP with Warne Marsh and Red Mitchell ("I Remember You" 1980), John Surman Trio ("Such Winters of Memory" 1982), in addition to several festival gigs with the trio Krog / Surman / Hallberg in the mid 1980s. In collaborating with John Surman she has further developed the use of electronic vocal techniques.
In larger (and normal) formats she has released LPs such as "Hi Fly" with Archie Shepp 1976 (Record of the Year in Japan 1977) and "As You Are" with Nils Lindberg 1976, she has recorded with such Norwegian names as Per Borthen (1980), Sandvika Big Band (1980), Espen Rud (1984), Per Husby (1985 and 1995), Bjørn Alterhaug (1990) and Tore Johansen (2000), foreign musicians such as saxophonist P.A. Nilsson (1993), she has played in Australia (1985), Japan (1988), Hungary (19889), Russia (1990), Jakarta (1992), Bulgaria (1994) and India (2002), and together with John Surman she created ballet music for such artists as Carolyn Carlson and Lario Ekson.
In 1981 she received the Municipality of Oslo Artist Award, in 1983 the Gammleng award and in 1987 the ever active Karin Krog started her own record company, Meantime Records, for the purpose of CD reissues, but also for new productions such as her fine 1989 quartet record, "Something Borrowed, Something New".
In 1994 she was the first Norwegian artist to be released by American Verve, an anniversary album with tracks from 30 years of recordings - appropriately titled "Jubilee". In the same year she made a record of Margrethe Munthe's songs ("Det var en gang..." / "Once Upon A Time...") and a recording with John Surman and Norwegian musicians, the CD "Nordic Quartet". A CD of another kind contains music written by her great grandfather Anders Heyerdahl - "Huskonsert i Aurskog" - released 1996. A selection of recordings from 1966-85 was in 2002 reissued on a German label under the title "Raindrops, raindrops". Her latest recording is a duo with the guitarist Jacob Young, "Where flamingos fly" (2001).
Norwegian Jazz Archives / December 2002