BAG - den nye supertrioen

BAG - the new super trio

Bugge Wesseltoft - B, Arild Andersen - A, Gard Nilssen - G. Just savor the names. It's almost impossible to get closer to a supergroup both here in the country and far beyond our borders.

Keyboard chief Jens Christian Bugge Wesseltoft (61), bass maestro Arild Andersen (79), and the great, new drummer Gard Nilssen (42), are representatives of three generations of Norwegian jazz musicians who all belong at the very top of the international elite class.

A rather random meeting a couple of years ago led to the three playing together for the first time. The result was obvious: the short musical meeting was far too fine and exciting for it to end there and then.

Busy
All three are highly sought-after and busy musicians both with their own projects and as guests with others. This has led to it taking some time to find space in the calendar for a longer tour, but now all three have cleared space for the collaboration everyone wants to prioritize highly.

Not the first time
Although this is the first time BAG really gets going as a trio, it is not the first time they meet in other settings.

Andersen has been known since the 70s for discovering young talents. First, it was the teenagers Jon Balke and Pål Thowsen who were brought forward, and in the 80s, in connection with the iconic commissioned works "Arv" and "Sagn", Bugge Wesseltoft became part of Andersen's universe for the first time.

For understandable reasons, Nilssen came into the picture later, but Andersen and he have, among other things, collaborated in a trio with guitar giant Pat Metheny, in connection with Andersen's 70th birthday celebration and as Jon Christensen's replacement in the legendary Maqualero in 2024.

Bugge Wesseltoft and Nilssen, who both originally come from Skien, have met on several occasions since 2004 with an All Star Big Band with roots in Skien high school, at Bugge's Organ Club at Cosmopolite in Oslo, a tribute concert for Charles Mingus in 2014, and in connection with Andersen's aforementioned 70th birthday celebration in 2015.

Three leaders
All three are prominent band leaders in everything from solo contexts to Nilssen's large Supersonic Orchestra.

In BAG, they meet around a repertoire where everyone comes to the table with their own compositions, including from Bugge's fresh album "Am Are" and Andersen's Arv and Sagn universe.

As a collective, they have further developed the material, and with their highly personal musical voices, they take the audience on a unique musical excursion.

BAG is a trio of the highest world class with three of our very best jazz musicians from three generations.