The story of DølaJazz – Lillehammer Jazz Festival

"The initiators were Roger Ryberg, then chairman of the Student Society at the District College (now HIL), and I, who was then chairman of the Blue Note Jazz Club. At the end of the fifties, together with other jazz-interested friends, I started the Blue Note Jazz Club in Lillehammer. The name Blue Note was a commitment, and the club was at times the country's most visited jazz club. Both national and international stars thrived in Lillehammer. It peaked at Grenaderen on a Tuesday evening late in the seventies when well over 300 people attended a concert with Radka Toneff, Arild Andersen, Jon Eberson, and Pål Thowsen. This was reportedly 100 more than the restaurant had space and permission for.

The idea of Dølajazz was conceived at Bergsenghjørnet, the little café located at the entrance to Thor Bergseng's store. Over a cup of coffee one morning, Roger and Kyrre said, "Why only Molde, Kongsberg, and Voss?" We received little response for our idea from the Norwegian Jazz Federation, which believed the three mentioned festivals were enough. But we contacted some leading Norwegian jazz musicians, with Arild Andersen and Frode Thingnæs at the forefront. They were already familiar with Blue Note and were excited about the idea. We paid little attention to the warning finger from the jazz federation and began working on our idea.

Among those involved in the planning, besides Roger and Kyrre, were Torstein Rudi, Øystein Tunli, Nils Moen, Jørgen Damskau, Knut Lilloe, Erik Kleiven, Ove Lerdahl, Bjørn Ringom, Egil Lindsell, Kalle Giskeødegård, Vesla Hagen, and Bjørn Bergh. In other words, we were many different kinds of people working towards a goal – DØLAJAZZ 1978. The idea was to create a small and intimate jazz festival over a weekend, mainly built around Norwegian musicians. And we believed we had a solid enough "customer base" in the city's jazz enthusiasts, as well as the students at the District College and Nansen School – both of which at the time showed great interest in the city's jazz club.

One of the most gratifying things was the cooperation and support we received from the city's two newspapers, Gudbrandsdølen – Lillehammer Tilskuer and Dagningen. We received a lot of nice coverage both before and after the festival.

I have to include a little funny episode here. We believed that a successful festival would – both musically and especially economically – depend on night jams both Friday and Saturday night. But here we got a flat no from the city's then police chief, Victor Kongelstad. And Victor was not just anyone in Lillehammer. He told us that a jazz festival was a bunch of young people sitting on red cushions, smoking hash, and digging jazz. So he certainly wouldn't tolerate any nocturnal activities. It was as simple as that, and that was that. However, by moving the night jams to Hotel Kronen – which the 'authorities' apparently regarded as a more serious place and with the help of Torstein Rudi's eloquence – Master Kongelstad eventually said yes. That yes probably saved the festival because the turnout for the two night jams was enormous, and the profit was secured. And after the festival, I remember well that the police praised us and said that there had never been less trouble at a night event in Lillehammer. They had the impression that there was a big difference between the jazz audience and the rock audience – and there probably was – at least in the seventies and maybe still.

I remember that we got many good tips from the leaders of Moldejazz with Christian Sættem at the forefront, and we eventually made good contacts within Tono, Rikskonsertene, Lillehammer Municipality, and Oppland County.

And besides the two previously mentioned musicians Arild Andersen and Frode Thingnæs, we had contact with and help from Jan Inge Melsæther in the then Arthur Bleiken and Hans Jazz Message, now leader of Ytre Suløen Jazz Ensemble. And eventually, we also got good help from the Norwegian drummer Egil 'Bop' Johansen in Arne Domnerus Orchestra in Sweden. Egil became a true friend of Lillehammer. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago, far too early.

DØLAJAZZ 1978 was a great success, and the festival has since been the highlight of the year for the city's jazz enthusiasts. And this year was the 25th anniversary – and just think – it might not have been if police chief Kongelstad had managed to put a stop to the night jams in 1978. It's almost unbelievable that it's been 25 years, but the calendar hardly lies."