Helge Lien Piano and Percussion, Knut Aalefjær Percussion, Rob Waring Percussion, Peter Opsvik Woodwinds, Eivind Opsvik Bass and Percussion, Guest: Bjørnar Andresen Bass

Recorded in Oslo in February 1998 and January 1999.
Concept: Peter Opsvik. Sound Engineer: Eivind Opsvik
Produced by Eivind Opsvik and Peter Opsvik. Executive producer: Karl Seglem
All music composed by the musicians.

When Peter Opsvik first got his hands on a record, Louis Armstrong’s famous version of West End Blues in the mid 1950s, his love for music and especially Black American Music was born.

He picked up the clarinet around the same time and played locally at dances and festivities. Later he switched to the Saxophone and actively played during his study years, both in Bergen and in Oslo.

In 1970 he joined the group, Christiania Jazzband, which has been together for more than fifty years. They play music in the style of the early 1930s. In 1972 they won a Norwegian Grammy, and they have been very active playing concerts all over Norway as well as in countries like Poland, USA, and Denmark. In 1992 an expanded version of the band saw the light of day, they called themselves Christiania 12, and became an instant hit on the Oslo traditional jazz scene.

Although Peter is most know for his involvement in traditional jazz music, he also has a history with and a deep love of the avant-garde, his most prolific project in this genre is his Woodwork project which features his wooden Cylindra objects and sound pictures along with Peter’s saxophones and some of Norway’s most prolific musicians; like Helge Lien, Knut Aalefjær, and Bjørnar Andresen.

These objects were handmade by Peter and his team and have been a major part of all of his exhibitions over the past 30 years.

His exhibition openings often featured musical happenings with local musicians performing on “Woodwork” objects along with Peter on saxophones. The audience was also encouraged to touch and play the objects during the exhibitions.

A CD of this music, Woodwork, was released on Nor-CD in 1998.