Nikolaj Hess
Pianist and composer Nikolaj Hess is a sophisticated, boundary-pushing artist with a sound that straddles modern classical, post-bop, and European jazz traditions. He has recorded numerous critically lauded albums like 2009's The Champ with his Spacelab trio, 2010's Global Motion with saxophonist Marc Mommaas, and 2013's Danish Music Award-nominated Trio with bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen. Hess has also composed for film, scoring Lars von Trier's Melancholia. In 2021, he brought all of his vast interests together on his expansive and textural chamber jazz album Spacelab & Strings.
Born in 1967 in Denmark, Hess grew up studying both piano and violin. Raised in the culturally vibrant Jutland peninsula, he and his brothers, saxophonist Emil Hess and drummer Mikkel Hess, were exposed to jazz and classical music from a young age. Nikolaj eventually attended the Copenhagen Conservatory, where he studied with both Horace Parlan and Butch Lacy. While at school he earned accolades including taking the gold prize at the Berlingske Tidendes competition of non-classical music in Copenhagen and winning the best European jazz piano player under 25 at the 1991 RAI competition in Rome. As a performer, he has worked with a bevy of artists from across the improvised musical spectrum, including Ben Monder, Christian McBride, Ulla Henningsen, Ambrose Akinmusire, Fela Kuti, Lee Konitz, and many more. In addition, he has supplied the score for films, including Lars von Trier's Melancholia and Juliane Fezer's Meeres Stille. Hess also teaches, having held the position of associate professor at the Rhythmic Conservatory in Copenhagen. He has taught at the New School in New York, The Royal Danish Conservatory of Music, Conservatoire National Superieur de Music de Paris, Conservatory of Non classical Music in Århus, and William Paterson University of New Jersey, among other institutions.
Following several collaborations with vocalist Sissel Vera Pettersen, Hess made his debut as leader on 2009's The Champ, which featured his Spacelab trio with bassist Anders Christensen and his brother Mikkel Hess on drums. He then collaborated with saxophonist Marc Mommaas, guitarist Ben Monder, bassist John Herbert, and drummers Jeff Ballard and Tony Moreno on 2010's Global Motion. In 2013, he joined bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen for Trio, which picked up a nomination for jazz album of the year at the Danish Music Awards. The following year, he earned another Danish Music Award nomination for his album 3 X Hess, a luminous trio set featuring his brothers, Emil (saxophone) and Mikkel (drums).
Rhapsody: Impressions of Hammershøi arrived in 2016 and featured the pianist and drummer Mikkel, along with pianist Marilyn Mazur and bassist Anders Christensen. Two years later, Hess joined vocalist Foyn Friis for the lyrical standards album Willow. In 2021, he was back with Spacelab for the lushly textured Spacelab & Strings. Mixing classical arrangements with searching improvisation, the record found him working with a string quartet featuring violinist and co-producer Cæcilie Balling, violinist Christian Ellegård, violist Jakup Lützen, and cellist Josefine Opsahl.
© Matt Collar /TiVo
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At the Movies
Nikolaj Hess, Anders Christensen, Mikkel Hess
Moderne jazz - Released by This Is Care Of on 10 nov. 2023
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Sunday
Portraits in Jazz, Claus Waidtløw, Nikolaj Hess
Jazz - Released by Waidtlow Music on 23 apr. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Invisible Land
Claus Waidtløw, Nikolaj Hess, Invisible Land
Jazz - Released by Waidtlow Music on 11 mrt. 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Spacelab & Strings
Jazz - Released by Sunnyside on 18 jun. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Resolution
Hidden Door, Kinck, Nikolaj Hess
Pop - Released by Sad Unicorn Recs on 5 jan. 2024
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Monday
Portraits in Jazz, Claus Waidtløw, Nikolaj Hess
Jazz - Released by Waidtlow Music on 4 nov. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Nikolaj Hess Trio
Nikolaj Hess, Tony Scherr, Kenny Wollesen
Jazz - Released by Gateway Music on 28 jan. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Chronicles, Vol. 1
Jazz - Released by Music For Dreams on 12 nov. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Overgivelse (feat. Nikolaj Hess)
Jazz - Released by Music Mecca on 28 jan. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
By This River
Sissel Vera Pettersen, Nikolaj Hess
Vocale jazz - Released by Music For Dreams on 1 jan. 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Chronicles - Yes Boss
Electronic - Released by Music For Dreams on 8 okt. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Chronicles Vol. 2
Klassiek - Released by Music For Dreams on 21 okt. 2022
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Christmas
Portraits in Jazz, Claus Waidtløw, Nikolaj Hess
Jazz - Released by Waidtlow Music on 10 dec. 2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Piano Chronicles - Go Go Go Go
Jazz - Released by Music For Dreams on 3 sep. 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Trio's & Beyond - Lotus Energy
Jazz - Released by Storyville Records on 23 sep. 2014
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
When First We Met (feat. Nikolaj Hess)
Jazz - Released by Music Mecca on 21 mrt. 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Coral
Nikolaj Hess, Jens Skou Olsen, Gregory Hutchinson
Jazz - Released by Exlibris on 4 okt. 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hess/Skou Quartet
Jazz - Released by Storyville Records on 1 jan. 1996
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo