BIOGRAPHY | DISCOGRAPHY | MEANTIME RECORDS | LINK | CONTACT | PHOTOS | HOME • • English Norwegian Karin Krog privately owns this independent record company, and she has released most of her latest CDs on this label. Some of her older recordings have been reissued as CD on this label as well. On Meantime you will find the following CDs available by her distributor (if you cannot find them in your recordstore) : info@musikkoperatorene.no MR 19 "In a Rag Bag" When Karin Krog and Morton Gunnar Larsen appeared together in this live concert in Oslo, in March 2012, they brought together a vast wealth of knowledge and experience that is entirely complementary. Karin’s singing embraces almost every style of jazz and popular song from the days of Irving Berlin to today’s avant garde. Meanwhile, Morten’s piano playing is a stylistic compendium of early jazz from ragtime via stride to boogie woogie. And yet it is true that each of them, in whatever style, retains a totally distinctive musical character, that is immediately identifiable and as individual as a fingerprint or a retinal scan. It’s a great partnership between singer and pianist, and the audience’s thrilled reaction at the end shows just how effectively these two dazzling performers of today have opened a little window into an earlier, and perhaps more innocent, time. Listen and buy MR 16 "Folkways" This is CD which features folksong. The pieces are mainly Norwegian traditional folksongs. Several of them were gathered and written down by Karin Krog´s great grandfather Anders Heyerdahl, around 1860. This was at the time when Edward Grieg was also finding inspiration from Norwegian folkmusic. Anders Heyerdahl was a violinist and composer who wrote a number of works for strings and piano. Greatly interested in folkmusic, Anders travelled around collecting and transcribing songs that he heard in the valleys. On this CD you can hear several of the folktunes Heyerdahl collected, including dances, (Halling), these are songs invoking the spirits of the woods. There is also a Lokk - a song with which the cowgirls called the cows home, a lullaby called «Bansull», and a composition by Norway’s leading contemporary composer Arne Nordheim, arranged by John Surman and called «Raga Variations». On this piece Nordheim has treated the Norwegian «Selje flute» electronically and the piece is performed with voice, oboe and soprano sax. On many of the pieces I am accompanied by John Suman, who moves between alto, bass and contra-bass clarinets, soprano saxophone and piano. Mats Berglund, the great Swedish violinist also appears on some of the pieces. The CD opens with the well known British folksong, "Waly, Waly" - sometimes known as «The Water is Wide» Listen and buy MR 15 "Karin Krog & Friends" - Karin Krog, Jan Garbarek, Terje Bjørklund, Arild Andersen, Palle Danielsson, Svein Christiansen and Espen Rud The album 'Joy' was acclaimed as not only one of Karin's finest albums but also as a ground-breaking album in European Jazz. And now Meantime Records finally releases 'Joy' for the very first time on CD. Recorded at the height of the swinging sixties, with musicians  who were soon to become central to the development of the so-called 'Nordic Sound' - musicians like Jan Garbarek, Jon Christensen, Arild Andersen and Palle Danielsson - the album still retains it´s contemporary feel. Bonus tracks include the celebrated track 'Break of Day in Molde' and a guest appearance of the great Americam trumpet player Ted Curson. Altogether essential listening by some of the stars of Nordic Jazz. Listen and buy MR 14 "Oslo Calling" - Karin Krog, Jan-Erik Kongshaug, Roy Nikolaisen, Frode Nymo and John Surman Finally, after many years working together as a musical team, comes the long-awaited album with Karin Krog and her regular accompanying trio 'The Meantimes'. Joining the quartet are guest soloists Jan-Erik Kongshaug on guitar, Roy Nikolaisen flugelhorn, Frode Nymo altosaxophone and John Surman soprano and tenorsaxophones in a collection which mixes standards and original themes in the distinctive Krog Fashion. A must-have for any collection! Listen and buy MR 13 "We Could Be Flying" - Karin Krog/Steve Kuhn, Steve Swallow and Jon Christensen. When the critic Don Watson first reviewed this album for the Western Courier he described it as "...a great album, one of Krog's finest to date....and worth buying simply for Steve Swallow's coda on "The Meaning of Love"! Krog is on sparkling form throughout this classic production and is accompanied here by an energetic and creative rhythm section which sounds as contemporary today as it did in the mid-seventies. Especially note-worthy are the Kuhn originals "Raindrops Raindrops" and "The Meaning of Love" which have both proved popular with today's young DJ s. Listen and buy MR 12 "Jazzmoments" - Karin Krog/Jan Garbarek, Kenny Drew, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Jon Christensen. Although "Jazzmoments" was only Karin Krog's second LP it immediately attracted international attention at the time. She is in excellent company here, with Kenny Drew piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass, and Jon Christensen, drums. Karin is joined on two numbers by the young up-and-coming talent Jan Garbarek on tenor saxophone. The album received an enthusiastic review in the American Down Beat magazine when it first appeared in 1966. Listen and buy MR 11 "Cloud Line Blue" - Karin Krog/John Surman. In 1979 Karin Krog and John Surman released the ground-breaking LP "Cloud Line Blue". It marked the beginning of a musical partnership that remains to this day. Using state-of-the-art technology ,the duo created an album which abounds in exciting sounds and tone colours which still sound fresh and stimulating some two and a half decades later. Now the album is available on CD for the very first time. Digitally re-mastered, by Jan Erik Kongshaug. Listen and buy MR 10 "Some other spring" - Karin Krog/Dexter Gordon with Kenny Drew, Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Espen Rud. Recorded in Oslo in 1970, recorded, mixed and mastered by engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug.A reissue of the album made in 1970 with four extra tracks. This is a classic album, with some of the best musicians at that time. On one of the tracks Jelly Jelly Dexter Gordon makes his debut as a singer in duet with Krog. The album won a Grammy in Japan in 1971, and has now turned into a real collectors item. "An undeniable classic, by one of Europe´s finest jazzsingers" Jazzreview 2001 by Andy Hamilton. Listen and buy MR 9 "Bluesand" - Karin Krog/John Surman Recorded & remastered in 1999 with engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug/ Terje Hellem This album is a mix of electronically music and acoustic music, and it broadly represents the kind of music that the couple have been playing throughout the last couple of decades. (1978-1999). John Surman is playing soprano & baritone saxes, Bass & Contrabass Clarinets, Piano & Synthesizers, while Karin Krog is using her voice with different electronic voice effects. The music is original by Krog/Surman and some of the titles are: The Nightingale, Ribbon of Sand, Voice Shadow, It could be Hip, Don't just Sing, SAS Blues, So Blue, Bluesand, and Fly Away. This CD won the Norwegian award "Spellemannsprisen" 1999. Listen and buy MR 8 "I remember you" - Karin Krog/Warne Marsh/Red Mitchell Recorded in Oslo in 1980 with engineer Per Sveinsson. This CD contains happy, swinging standard jazzmaterial where the main idea is to pay tribute to some of the greats of jazz, we hear a/o Damerons "Soultrain", with lyrics by Krog, and two vocalises, "Moodys Mood for Love" and "Lesters Happy" (tributes to James Moody and Lester Young), with some super playing from Warne and Red. Listen and buy MR 7 "A song for you" - Karin Krog/Bengt Hallberg "...but three´s a crowd" - Karin Krog/Red Mitchell "With malice towards none" - Karin Krog/Nils Lindberg: Recorded in Stockholm in 1977 with engineer Gert Palmkrantz, and in Gagnef Church in 1980, engineer Rune Andreasson. Recordings originally made in Sweden for the Bluebell Label. This CD has three duos, on the first we hear Krog with Red Mitchell, on the second with Bengt Hallberg and on the third with Nils Lindberg. The songs on the two first duos are mainly standards, but on the third we hear Lindberg on Church organ and amongst the pieces on offer are an interpretation of John Coltranes "A Love Supreme", an original by Lindberg with lyrics by Red Mitchell, "As you are" and Dvoraks "Going Home". Listen and buy MR 6 "Houseconcert i Aurskog" - Karin Krog with Den Norske strykekvartett, Einar Henning Smebye, Mats Berglund and John Surman. Recorded in Oslo in1995 with engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug. Karin Krog's recordings of her great grandfather Anders Heyerdal's Norwegian folk music. Anders Heyerdal (1832-1918) was a violinplayer and composer. This CD contains folkmusic collected and written down by Anders Heyerdahl, and performed by Krog, fiddler Mads Berglund and John Surman on sopranosax and clarinets a la Carte. Heyerdahl also composed some piano pieces and we hear them played here by Einar Henning Smebye. We also hear his string quartet no.1 played by Den Norske Strykekvartett. Hearing this music, we go back in time and pretend we are guests in a big countryhouse attending a houseconsert with music by Heyerdahl. Listen and buy MR 5 "You must believe in spring" - Karin Krog/Palle Mikkelborg with Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Per Carsten, Bent Larsen, Niels Peters, Ole Koch-Hansen, Philip Catherine, Alex Riel, Kasper Vinding, Lubov Rubinstein, Per Walher, Hans Nielsen, Finn Ziegler and Erling Christensen. Recorded in1974 with engineer Birger Svan. The album contains songs by Michel Legrand with very special arrangements by Palle Mikkelborg. The musicians, handpicked by Mikkelborg, also offer a super string quartet led by Finn Ziegler. Philip Catherine is featured on guitar. Amongst the songs featured are "Once upon a summertime", "Watch what happens" and "Ask yourself why". Listen and buy MR 4 "Gershwin with Krog" - Karin Krog/ Bjarne Nerem with Egil Kapstad, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen. Recorded in Oslo in1974 with engineer Inge Holst Jacobsen. This CD finds Krog with some of the best Norwegian jazzmusicians. Rhythm section: Egil Kapstad, pno, Arild Andersen Bs, Jon Christensen, Drs, and not to forget Tenor-saxophonist Bjarne Nerem. This is an album of Gershwin music, and won Krog the prize: Female artist of the year 1974. Listen and buy MR 3 "Hi-Fly" - Karin Krog/Archie Shepp with Charles Greenlee,Jon Balke,Arild Andersen, Beaver Harris and Cameron Brown. Recorded in Oslo in 1976 with engineer Bjørn Lillehagen. The album came about on the initiative of Beaver Harris as he and Archie were passing through Oslo. The songs on the album are mainly compositions by jazzmusicians, like "Sing me softly of the blues" by Carla Bley, "Soul Eyes" by Mal Waldron, "Hi-FLy" by Randy Weston and Shepps own "Steam". The album won a Grammy award in Japan in 1977. Listen and buy MR 2 "Something borrowed, something new" - Karin Krog with Kenny Drew,Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen and Alex Riel. Recorded in Copenhagen 1989 with engineer Henrik Lund, mixed by Jan Erik Kongshaug. Karin together with 3 superb musicians who used to be the house rythmsection in the jazzclub Montmartre in Copenhagen. The idea to make this album was born during a tour of Japan, which Karin did with Kenny and Niels. It features two original songs, one by Dexter Gordon called Tivoli, and Canto Mai by John Surman, and other good songs by the likes of Cole Porter and Duke Ellington. Listen and buy MR 1 "Two of a kind" - Karin Krog/Bengt Hallberg Recorded 1982 with engineer Jan Erik Thoreby. Two Scandinavian musicians, who possess a keen sense of tradition, together with the ability to translate that awareness of the past into music that is fresh and belonging very much to the present. The songs that Karin Krog and Bengt Hallberg have picked represent every decade from the 1920s to the 1980s. Listen and buy