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Jon Christensen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Jon Christensen (1943 to 2020) was a Norwegian jazz drummer. In the late 1960s he played with Jan Garbarek on several recordings of the composer George Russell, including The Essence of George Russell from 1967 and Electronic Sonata for Souls Loved by Nature from 1969. In 1967 he won prizes from the Norwegian jazz press and from the Norwegian Jazzforum, and in 1975 he was named Drummer of the Year by the European Jazz Federation. In 1977 he received the Spellemannprisen, the Norwegian music prize, and three more times with Masqualero.

Music and breakthrough

Christensen is above all associated with the German label ECM. He played on many records there, with Keith Jarrett, Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Bobo Stenson, Eberhard Weber, Ralph Towner, Barre Phillips, Arild Andersen, Enrico Rava, John Abercrombie, Miroslav Vitous, Charles Lloyd and Tomasz Stanko, among others. He was a member of Keith Jarrett's European quartet of the 1970s, together with Garbarek and the bassist Palle Danielsson. That quartet recorded five albums for ECM, including Belonging from 1974 and My Song from 1977. Ralph Towner's Solstice from 1975 is also regarded as a milestone. With Arild Andersen he was a central figure in the group Masqualero, which reunited in 2003 for his sixtieth birthday.

Influence

Christensen made only one album under his own name, No Time for Time from 1976. His significance lies in his work as an accompanist: a drummer who leaves space, who adds colours and pulses instead of laying down a fixed rhythm. In this way he contributed to what is called the Nordic jazz sound, with an open, restrained atmosphere. He died in 2020.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Belonging by Keith Jarrett from 1974 and notice Christensen's playing on cymbals and drums: he accompanies without dominating and gives the lines of Jarrett and Garbarek room.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists