Oslo Jazz Festival | Loneliness is different

Loneliness? Perhaps way up there, in Finnmark, in the far northeast of Norway, where only 1.5 people live per square kilometer. But here, more than 1,000 kilometers south, on Oslo's main shopping street? Yet, joining the dozen campaign stands in Karl Johans Gate is a party whose platform has the sole goal of achieving a society in which fewer people feel excluded: the Loneliness Party (Ensomhetspartiet).

A new parliament will be elected in Norway on September 8th, but there is no sign of tension or even a heated atmosphere in the streets of the capital. Unlike in Germany, political parties in Norway have to buy their advertising space, so printed election posters are almost never seen on the streets. The political situation is stable, and the Social Democrats, who govern with 26 percent of the vote, are even expecting slight gains. Norway is considered one of the richest countries in the world, and its education system is exemplary. For a time, every single music album produced in the country received state funding, and even today, efforts are being made to provide every schoolchild with an instrument.

You can hear everything here: free jazz, folk, post-bop, soul, big band experiments, nightly jam sessions – and Dixieland.

The investments are paying off. These days in mid-August, young musicians can be seen all over Oslo. Whether in the cozy pub "Herr Nilsen," where the audience squeezes between the bar and the tiny stage, in the hip bar "Juret" near the Royal Palace, or in the club "Blå" on the edge of the Grünerløkka nightlife district—talented artists under 30 are playing everywhere. Where precious metals were still stored in the 1990s, one of the city's most important indie clubs is now located. This year, "Blå" has returned to its roots as a jazz club: It is one of the main venues of the Oslo Jazz Festival.

A warm evening on the second floor of the warehouse. The building's second venue, with the lovely name "Blå – Himmel," is packed, and the air is steadily getting worse. Henriette Eilertsen is playing on the open stage.

The young woman is the first Norwegian flautist to hold a bachelor's degree in jazz. Why she has been in demand in various Oslo bands for years and won a prize at the renowned Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2024 quickly becomes clear. Eilertsen's trio with cello and drums creates a dark, almost post-rock-like groove that allows the bandleader's weightless flute tone to shine all the brighter. The sound is minimalist, sophisticated, but never detached; the cello, distorted with electronics, sounds sometimes like a double bass, sometimes like a guitar.

A magnificent concert. Even compared to the fusion veterans Needlepoint, performing one floor below in the main hall of the "Blå" (Blå) venue. Bjørn Klakegg's softly breathy voice contrasts with hissing electric piano solos – the quartet is audibly influenced by British bands like Soft Machine, who blended progressive rock with jazz in the 1970s. Klakegg reads his lyrics while sitting down – no one here is really rocking, but it's still harmonious.

But things really get sweaty on this Oslo evening in the cozy "Herr Nilsen" pub. The Delvon Lamarr Organ Trio will have played in several similarly sized venues in its early years in its hometown of Seattle. Then came a performance on the US station KEXP, streamed millions of times, and the international career of the self-taught musician.

Delvon Lamarr began. Lamarr always plays a Hammond organ, heavy as a baby elephant, evoking the fiery soul-funk of bands like The Meters.

Because the first concert had sold out months in advance, the second concert of the evening is already scheduled at "Herr Nilsen." As usual, the setlist includes an instrumental cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up," performed sensationally coolly by the organist.

In its 39th year, the Oslo Jazz Festival hasn't settled on a single sound. Free jazz, folk, post-bop, soul, big band experiments, and late-night jam sessions feature; major international names like Hermeto Pascoal and Pat Metheny are the exception rather than the rule.

"I had a more comprehensive approach in mind, wanting to appeal to a larger audience – without becoming commercial," says Line Juul. The artistic director is in her second year, and she gives the interview while running toward the festival office, the tram bell jingling in the background. She describes the six-day event as the "little brother" of the large festivals in Molde and Kongsberg, which have existed for 60 years. "Oslo was born as a reaction to that," says Juul, "but it was founded by jazz traditionalists, and in the early years it was very mainstream." Dixieland can still be heard here, in the "New Orleans Club" – but this cozy swing has little to do with the organization of the Oslo Jazz Festival. Gressholmen is a small island in the Oslo archipelago; the ferry takes less than 30 minutes. Surrounded by beautiful nature, Marius Neset plays a solo set on the terrace of an inn. The saxophonist from the Vestland region has become internationally known since his albums for the German label ACT. "Breathtaking" is an overused word in pop criticism, but when technical brilliance and sparkling melodic inventiveness collide so spectacularly, the reviewer has no choice. A brilliant mini-set.

The festival's other venues in the city center are within easy walking distance, and several are completely sold out. "People should get used to the fact that this can happen in jazz too," says Line Juul cheerfully.

A few meters from the Victoria jazz club, where US saxophonist Joshua Redman will be making a much-acclaimed appearance later in the festival, a dozen campaign advertising stands stand under the trees of Karl Johans Gate. One belongs to the Loneliness Party, founded by a woman in her mid-forties with a smile and her father. Norway should focus on suicide prevention in the long term, the website states. Striving for a society in which fewer people feel excluded – this utopia has long since become reality on a small scale, at the warmly celebrated concerts of the Oslo Jazz Festival.