Roar Berntsen trio feat. Willie Green III er et samarbeidsprosjekt mellom den amerikanske trommeslageren Willie Green III og den Bergensbaserte gitaristen Roar Berntsen. De to stiftet bekjentskap i New Orleans, 2014, der de gjennom kontinuerlig samarbeid utviklet et musikalsk bånd og felles forståelse. De skal på turné i Norge og Sverige i starten av april, og avslutter denne på Tøyen Startup Village, fredag 8. april.
Berntsen og Green gjør med dette prosjektet en etterlengtet musikalsk gjenforening, for anledningen i trioformatet. Repertoaret deres består av Greens og Berntsens originaler, samt noen tolkninger av andre utvalgte verker. For datoer i Norge har de vært så heldige å få med seg bassist Petter Asbjørnsen.
Roar Berntsen – gitar
Willie Green III – trommer
Petter Asbjørnsen – bass
Mer informasjon om musikerne:
Willie Green III – Drums
Willie Green Project is a modern jazz quartet born and bred in New Orleans, helmed by 29-year-old drummer Willie Green III. Born and raised just outside of the city in Laplace, Louisiana,
Willie grew up a spiritual musician, playing at his father’s church from a young age. As a professional musician today, Willie has toured as a member of Delfeayo Marsalis’ Uptown Jazz
Orchestra, New Orleans Jazz Orchestra featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, part of Betty Shirley’s band, and played alongside legends like Ellis Marsalis, Stefon Harris, Roger Lewis of Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Swiss Jazz Ambassador and many more artists. In addition, Willie has led Willie Green Project on multiple tours through Texas and the Southwest a number of times over the past few years. As the pandemic approached, the band was set to make a 4-week run to Colorado and California, in addition to familiar spots through New Mexico, Arizona, and Texas. Now, WGP has adapted its format for virtual audiences, and hosts a weekly livestream on its own social media channels with a dedicated and growing audience. WGP has released three independent records: Love Will Find A Way (2017), Pharaoh’s Dream (2019), and Picou (2020).
Roar Berntsen – Guitar
Roar Berntsen – guitar
Guitarist and composer Roar Kjeldahl Berntsen, currently living in Bergen, Norway, grew up in Jessheim, Norway. He holds a BA in jazz performance from the Grieg Academy and Loyola
University New Orleans. Currently he is on the radar as a sideman with the Thomas Lossius Septet, on the recently released album «Seven Words For Ekstasia». Here he plays alongside renowned pianist Eivind Austad, among others. He has also been a member of the South African trumpeter Robin Fassie Kock ́s quintet, who won the «Jazz I Sikte» competition in 2016. He has been featured as a sideman as well as led groups at different clubs such as Oslo Jazzforum, Swing n Sweet Jazz Club, Evans Jazz Club, and festivals such as Sildajazz and Nattjazz. He is currently also leading the Roar Berntsen Organ trio, who did a tour in Norway/ Sweden the fall of 2021.
Petter Asbjørnsen – bass
Petter Asbjørnsen is a bassist with education including a BA from the Grieg Academy in Bergen.
During his studies he was active as both composer and performer in the jazz scene, the underground pop/rock scene, and eventually also the experimental music scene. After completing his studies in Bergen he stayed in Berlin, before starting his Masters of music at the Conservatory of music in Copenhagen. He completed his MA in 2019. A central part of Asbjørnsens music is experimentation and exploration. He has been active as a composer for Liberty Pop since 2013, and in a number of other groups including PAT, Vestfold Jazz Ensemble, Lekerommet and other project-based ensembles in Copenhagen, Berlin and New York. He released his debut album «Supergolden» on Smeik Records in March 2020.
