Carl Petter Opsahl profile picture

Carl Petter Opsahl

About Me

My album "Love, the Blues" has been out for two months and is already sold out. Incredible. Tord Gustavsen and Jon Christensen does some amazing playing on that record, and I'm very happy I was able to make that record. "Love, the Blues" completes my trilogy dedicated to the Trinity. The two other releases are "Indigodalen"(2001) and the solo impro cd "Improvisions (2005)

Bio
Yes, I play clarinet, have done so for most of my life.
Genres? What can I say? Free impro, traditional norwegian music, New Orleans Jazz, Swing, with Eastern and Southern influences thrown in the mix. And of course, blues is the wellspring of all music.

I started professionally in 1982 with Caledonia Jazzband, playing New Orleans jazz. I lived in New Orleans for a while, and became a member of the All Star Brass Band. I also played with Wendell Brunious, the Rebirth Brass Band, Lillian Boutte and others. I love that city, people and music, and I pray for New Orleans' future. Caledonia is still kicking, celebrating it's 25th anniversary!

I became involved with traditional folk music from Norway, studying with fiddle players and was a founding member of Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag. We toured all over Europe and also got to see some of the U.S, playing at major festivals.

At this point in life, I enjoy playing with Tord Gustavsen, with Ã…smund Reistad (a great person to tour with, and we have toured a lot), playing occational gigs Caledonia, and with whoever free and open minded musician I meet.
I work as a street reverend for the city mission in Oslo, and music is a big part of my pastoral work as well. At my church, we have a great trio and of course, with Magnus Larsen playing bass and cello and Andreas Utnem on wathever keys he finds (check out the organ at his Myspace site...).

Music for life... PEACE


My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 4/8/2007
Band Website: http://www.carlpetter.com/musiker
Band Members:

Colaborators

Andreas Utnem
Magnus Larsen
Tord Gustavsen
Åsmund Reistad
Haddy N'jie
Becaye Aw
Caledonia Jazzband
Chateau Neuf Spelemannslag


Influences: From the beginning, I was always influenced by sounds of nature. The first musician that came into my life was Louis Armstrong. I dived into free jazz: Albert Ayler, Eric Dolphy, John Coltrane, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra. Through Albert Ayler i discovered New Orleans music at a deeper level and immersed my self in the sounds of clarinet players such as Albert Burbank, Louis Cotrell and Willie Humphrey. Then the music of my native country embraced me, especially the melodic, melancholic and spellbinding "springleiks" from Gudbrandsdalen and performers such as Hans W. Brimi and Helene Høye. Calypso, music from South Africa, Mali and the Middle East, Brasil and Cuba is asome of the most beautiful and spiritual there is, and I'm particularily influenced by Anouar Brahem, Ali Farka Toure, Gioria Feidman, Salif Keita, Abdullah Ibrahim and Ruben Gonsalez. Hiphop entered late in my life, and as a musician that pursue accoustic music, it's hard to say how it has influenced me musically. It must be on a deeper spiritual level. And the grooves...
Sounds Like: me
Record Label: Grappa/Heilo, Hot Club Records, Park Grammofon
Type of Label: Indie

My Blog

Freemuse.org

Freemuse is in Myspace, and can be found at http://www.myspace.com/musiccensorship
Posted by on Mon, 18 Jun 2007 11:39:00 GMT

Music sensorship - Fight it!

Music is a gift from the Creator. We were born to sing, play and dance. Still, there are religious leaders that deem certain genres of music as "ungodly" or "immoral." In certain traditions music is b...
Posted by on Sat, 14 Apr 2007 04:56:00 GMT