We realize that Oslo may not be a hot tourist destination, but the city’s annual jazz festival in August might be the excuse you need to check out the land of the Vikings (the $700 flight might be a little hard on the pocket, though – if you’re already living in Scandinavia, more power to ya).
The 2005 Oslo Jazz Festival will be held from Aug. 15-21 at 16 venues throughout the city and suburbs. Headliners include the Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet (pictured); the Count Basie Orchestra; Power House Music with Ken Vandermark, Lasse Marhaug, Nate McBride, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and Paal Nilssen-Love; the Charlie Parker Legacy Band; and Dick Hyman. Among the 75 concerts will also be 17 free outdoor concerts with performances by Odeon Jazz Quartet, Felix Peikli Swing Cats, Asker Jazzband and a series of young artist showcases.
The complete schedule and ticket information is available at www.oslojazz.no; however, a full English website won’t be available until the end of June. If you’re simply dying to know all the details right now, you can find a Norwegian-English translator at www.tritrans.net (the site also translates to Spanish – how that fits in between English and Norwegian is beyond us).
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