Bassist, vocalist, composer – and sensation, Ellen Andrea Wang has in just a few years established herself as a strong name both in the Norwegian and the international jazz scene. Now she will be at Kongsberg Jazzfestival with her own trio.
Ellen Andrea Wang has distinguished herself as an inventive artist, blending genres in new and unprecedented ways and she recently joined drum legend Manu Katchés band.
She is also the leader of the band Pixel who have achieved great national and international success and acclaim, even winning an award at UK Music Video Awards for Wang’s composition “Call Me”.
Ellen Andrea hails from a musical family. She spent years studying violin and piano before she picked up the double bass at the age of 17 and quickly made it her own. A graduate of Oslo’s Norwegian Academy of Music, she gained widespread attention in Norway with the release of 2010’s Norwegian Song 3, when she was pegged as a rising bass star who held her own in the company of established masters like pianist Dag Arnesen, drummer Pål Thowsen and trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg.
Now, with her debut album “Diving”, she plunges into the roles as a solo artist, bassist, singer, songwriter and producer, all at once.
Her trio includes some of Norway’s most talented musicians; Andreas Ulvo (Mathias Eick) on keys and Erland Dahlen (Nils Petter Molvær, Eivind Aarseth) on drums, who put their personal signature on the material.
Her debut album “Diving” has a tasteful blend of jazz and pop elements, and she manages to balance the lyrical with the rough, the acoustic with the electric to create an urban sound with a traditional configuration; bass, drums and piano. The song “Follow Me” is an example of Wang luring people into more candid jazz through build-up and vocal based melody lines.
Norwegian press has praised her debut album and she was named 2014’s Bassist Of The Year in the newspaper Dagsavisen. “This trio, this music and Ellen Andrea Wang can reach almost as far as they would like” Tor Hammerø, Side 2.
In 2015, Ellen Andrea Wang won the acclaimed DNB-award at Kongsberg Jazzfestival.
Ellen Andrea Wang (bass, vocal), Andreas Ulvo (keys), Erland Dahlen (drums)
