Jon Balke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jon Balke
Balke at Berchidda on Sardinia, 2006 (Photo by Gianfranco Rota)
Background information
Birth name	Jon Georg Balke
Born	(1955-06-07) 7 June 1955 (age 70) Furnes, Norway
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Piano
Associated acts	Magnetic North Orchestra

Jon Georg Balke (born June 7, 1955) is a talented jazz pianist and composer from Norway. He is known for leading his own music group called Siwan. Jon is also the younger brother of another musician, Erik Balke, who plays the saxophone.

Jon Balke's Music Journey

Balke at Sentralen during
the 2016 Oslo Jazzfestival

Jon Balke started playing classical piano when he was young. By age 12, he switched to playing blues music. Even though he started with these styles, he now plays many different types of music.

When he was 18, Jon joined a music group led by Arild Andersen. In the mid-1980s, he began working on his own projects. He soon became one of Norway's top jazz composers.

He was part of groups like Radka Toneff's band and the Afrofusion group E'olén. Later, he joined Oslo 13 and Masqualero in the early 1980s.

From 1989, Jon focused on his own music ideas. He formed the group JøKleBa with Audun Kleive and Per Jørgensen. He also created the Magnetic North Orchestra. For this orchestra, he wrote a special piece of music called Il Cenoneat for the Vossajazz festival in 1992.

In 2002, Balke started a percussion group called Batagraf. Percussion means instruments you hit, shake, or scrape. In 2007, he created a special music project called Siwan with singer Amina Alaoui.

Jon Balke also created a series of unique concerts at the Vossajazz festival called Ekstremjazz. These concerts combine music with extreme sports like parachuting, paragliding, hanggliding, and BMX biking.

In 2012, he was chosen as the "artist in residence" at Moldejazz. This means he was a special guest artist at the festival that year. In 2016, he started a new solo piano project called Warp. For this, he uses live electronics with his grand piano during performances.

Awards and Special Recognitions

Jon Balke has received several awards for his music:

• 1984: Buddyprisen
• 1993: Jazz Musician of the Year
• 2000: Edvard Prize in popular music for his album Solarized
• 2003: Oslo Bys kulturstipend (Oslo City's Culture Scholarship)
• 2008: Gammleng-prisen in the jazz category
• 2009: Jahrespreis der Deutschen Musikkritiker (German Music Critics' Annual Prize)
• 2012: Artist in Residence at Moldejazz

Jon Balke's Albums

Here are some of the albums Jon Balke has released as a leader:

See also

• List of jazz pianists