Knut Værnes

Knut Værnes (born 1 April 1954) is a Norwegian jazz musician (guitar), composer and band leader, known from several recordings in the jazz rock genre. He grew up at Bøler in Oslo, where he became an accomplished guitarist.

Career Værnes was born in Trondheim, Norway. He is a graduate from the University of Oslo and has attended master classes at the Manhattan School of Music, and played within pop and rock bands like «Salt & Pepper», «Shimmy», and the fusion band «Vanessa» with the record release City Lips (1975). Then musical studies in Oslo and Bergen brought him on to the Norwegian jazz scene with albums like Anatomy of the guitar (1979), in collaboration with his guitar teacher Jon Eberson, within Nils Petter Molvær's funk band «Punktum» and Håkon Graf's «Graffiti». In the 1980s, he studied with John Scofield at the Manhattan School of Music.

Værnes led his own Trio and Quartet with co-musicians Morten Halle (saxophone), Edvard Askeland (bass) and Frank Jakobsen (drums). The Quartet continued as the band Cutting Edge resulting in four album releases.

Værnes has participated on numerous recordings in different genres, including Geirr Lystrup's Songen om kjærleika (1980), Etterlatte sanger (1986)together with Sidsel Endresen and Jonas Fjeld, Jan Eggum's (E.G.G.U.M. (1995) and Stilig (1986), and Gym (1997) with Di Derre. In 2001 he was awarded Gammleng-prisen in the category jazz. His latest release is A night in the cassis (2004), where his music is arranged for the Vertavo String Quartet. Værnes trio played at the Trondheim Jazz Festival 2006, and recently he has cooperated with the Swedish double bassist Lars Danielsson.

Honors Gammleng-prisen 2001 in the category jazz

Discography

Solo albums Within Knut Værnes Band 1993: Roneo (Curling Legs) 2013: Tributes (Curling Legs)

Within Knut Værnes Trio Including Kim Ofstad (drums) and Frode Berg (bass) 1995: Jacques Tati (Curling Legs) Including Danny Gottlieb (drums) and Frode Berg (bass) 1997: «8:97» (Curling Legs) 1999: Super Duper (Curling Legs)

Collaborative works Within Vanessa 1975: City lips

With Jon Eberson 1979: Anatomy of the guitar

Within Cutting Edge 1982: Cutting Edge 1983: Our man in paradise 1986: Duesenberg

Duo with Terje Gewelt 1992: Admission For Guitars And Basses (Curling Legs)

With other projects 2000: 4G, with Frode Alnæs, Knut Reiersrud and Bjørn Klakegg 1980: Songen om kjærleika, with Geirr Lystrup 1986: Etterlatte sanger, with Sidsel Endresen and Jonas Fjeld 1986: Stilig (Single), with Jan Eggum 1985: E.G.G.U.M., with Jan Eggum 1997: Gym, with Di Derre 2004: A night in Cassis (Curling Legs), with the Vertavo String Quartet