BENDIK HOFSETH
Biography
Bendik Hofseth was born on 19 October 1962 in Oslo and grew up in Lørenskog.
He started his recording career as a guest musician on Pål Thowsen's "Sympathy" in 1983 and later joined the bands Chipahua and The Heavy Gentlemen (together with Knut Reiersrud and Paolo Vinaccia) and Celeste (with Øystein Sevåg).
He then trained in the USA, where he also worked for several years as Michael Brecker's successor in the band Steps Ahead (1987–92). It was band leader and vibraphonist Mike Mainieri who wanted Bendik in the band. In 1990 he played on the album Sagn with Arild Andersen and Kirsten Bråten Berg.
In 1991, Bendik made his album debut under his own name on international Columbia with the album IX where he both sang, played saxophone, keyboards and programmed. On the album played i.a. Tony Levin (bass), Knut Reiersrud (guitar), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Paolo Vinaccia (drums), Audun Erlien (bass), Reidar Skår (keyboards), Øystein Sevåg (keyboards) and Mike Mainieri (vibraphone) - who also produced the record. IX received good reviews both abroad and in Norway, and he was put in a booth with artists such as Peter Gabriel, Sting and Manu Katché. IX was named one of the best Norwegian albums of all time in the "Morgenbladet top 100" award. In the same year, he also wrote the commissioned work Q for Vossajazz in 1991, a concert that was broadcast on NRK tv, as well as contributed to the album »N« by German Michael Villmow's KBB together with drummer Chad Wackerman.
In 1993, the album Amuse Yourself (1993) was released with his own Bendik Hofseth Band. This was a slightly rougher and more band-like album than the debut, and one can also trace elements of soul and Norwegian folk music. The core of the band consisted of Knut Reiersrud (guitar), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Audun Erlien (bass), Øystein Sevåg (keyboards), Paolo Vinaccia (drums) and Reidar Skår (keyboards). The album received fantastic reviews across the board.
In 1994, the project Metamorphoses was performed at Vossajazz with musicians Mike Mainieri (vibraphone), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Anders Jormin (bass), Talvin Singh (tabla) and Jon Christensen (drums). The work was released on CD the following year on the Verve label. An instrumental jazz album, with elements of Eastern world music.
In 1996 his album Planets, Rivers and...IKEA was released, and the sixes were hailed. The record was withdrawn from the market after threats from IKEA. The album featured Arild Andersen (bass) and Johnny Sjo (bass), Jon Christensen (drums), Paolo Vinaccia (drums) and Kom Ofstad (drums), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Helge Iberg (piano), in addition to the inclusion of strings and wind instruments. The album earned him the NOPA Award for Work of the Year.
In 1997, Bendik recorded the instrumental jazz album Colours with a quartet consisting of Anders Jormin (bass), Django Bates (piano) and Audun Kleive (drums). The same year, the album Ludo was released, which Bendik released together with Anne-Lise Berntsen and Helge Iberg.
In 1999, Bendik chose to sing in Norwegian on the album Smilets historie. He was accompanied by Audun Erlien (bass), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Anders Engen (drums) and Jan Bang (programming), in addition to strings, wind instruments and the Latvian National Symphony Orchestra. Jacob Young (guitar), Knut Reiersrud (guitar) and Kirsten Bråten Berg (vocals) were also included. The more chamber pop-influenced album divided the critics in two.
In 2001, Ketil Bjørnstad released the album Grace, in collaboration with Eivind Aarset, Arild Andersen, Jan Bang, Anneli Drecker, Trilok Gurtu and Bendik Hofseth.
In 2005, the album Itaka was released. Bendik continued to sing in Norwegian, and the album was a natural sequel to Smilets historie. The band consisted of Håvard Gimse (piano), Paolo Vinaccia (drums), Mats Eilertsen (bass), Øystein Birkeland (cello) and the South African vocalist Ray Phiri. Jacob Young (guitar) also played on some of the songs.
In 2009, the album XI was released, summarizing previous solo albums with new instrumental jazz versions of previously released songs. Here he brought with him French Olivier Louvel (guitar), Gil Goldstein (piano, accordion), Mike Mainieri (vibraphone), Scott Colley (bass) and Antonio Sanchez (drums) – all big international jazz names.
In 2015 he released his first English-language album Children and Cosmopolitans since 1996 with a core line-up consisting of Audun Erlien (bass), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Helge Iberg (piano) and drummers Karl Oluf Wennerberg, Per Lindvall and Paolo Vinaccia.
In 2016, the 25th anniversary of the album IX was celebrated with the 3CD/DVD/book box set IX - 25 Years Anniversary which contained a remastered version of IX (CD1), outtakes from IX (CD2), a tribute to IX, where some twenty artists re-recorded the entire IX album (artists such as Morten Harket, Nils Petter Molvær, Jarle Bernhoft, Håkon Kornstad, Mathias Eick, Kristian Kristensen, Ketil Bjørnstad, Knut Reiersrud, Silje Nergaard, Emilie Christensen ++ contribute). In addition, the box set contains a DVD with the commissioned work Q for Vossajazz 1991 and the book IX, written by Terje Mosnes. Bendik also embarked on an extensive and sold-out tour, where the entire IX was played from A-Z with his original band from 1991.
In 2016 and 2017, Bendik recorded the albums The Maze and Rathkes gate 12:21:58 together with, among others, Jacob Young on his newly started record label Oslo Session Recordings.
In 2018, Bendik Hofseth released the album Atonement, once again with lyrics in English, with guests including Mike Mainieri and Anneli Drecker. The core of the band consisted of Mats Eilertsen on bass, Paolo Vinaccia on drums, Eivind Aarset on guitar, Helge Iberg on piano and the Engegård Quartet.
In 2020, Bendik began his ambitious work Forest, which consists of four albums: Trunks (2020), which consists of the jazz sextet Mats Eilertsen (bass), Per Oddvar Johansen (drums), Eivind Aarset (guitar), Helge Iberg (piano) and Mike Mainieri (vibraphone). An instrumental jazz album where Bendik has specially composed a song for each of the “trunks” in his life. Branches (2021), which is his “pop album” in the series, which consists of the same core, but with British Simon Darlow as guest vocalist.
In 2022, album three in the Forest quadrology was released; Roots. It is an album where Bendik pays tribute to old heroes together with the Engegård Quartet and Eivind Aarset.
In 2023, the last album in the series Pollen and Leaves was released, which consists of a number of small and short miniatures and detached pieces.
In 2024, the Forest box will be released, which also contains a book with Edvard Munch's tree paintings and stories about trees and the meaning of trees.
He has also contributed to over a hundred releases with Norwegian musicians such as Arild Andersen, Helge Iberg, Ingeborg Hungnes, Bjørn Eidsvåg, Jacob Young, Øystein Sevåg, Jan Eggum, Kenneth Sivertsen, Anne Karin Kaasa, Ketil Bjørnstad, Jan Bang and Bertine Zetlitz.
Bendik has also composed music for the films Farlig Farvann (1992), Veranda før en tenor (1994), Oppfinnser med Kristiansand Kammerorkester (1999) and Sex, håp og kjærlighet (2005).
He established a festival for chamber music in Fredrikstad.
As a record producer, he has worked for Kenneth Sivertsen, Odd Einar Nordheim and Jan Eggum.
Bendik Hofseth has toured extensively at home and abroad. Both under his own name, but also with international and national stars.
He has a number of live concepts, from duos to full-scale bands.
In the late 90s, Bendik combined his life as a musician with organizational work in the Norwegian and international music scene, where he has been a central figure. He has been chairman of NOPA and by:Larm, as well as the world's composers' council, CIAM, where he represents 2.6 million composers and lyricists worldwide. He was chairman of Phonofile for many years. He has also been a board member of TONO and NCB. Bendik Hofseth is also an instructor and teacher at the University of Agder, where he is central to the development of a new study program in Music Management. Here he is also responsible for the conference "Challenge of the New".