Marit Sandvik

Born in Harstad. Since 1986 she lives in Tromsø. Early inspirations were Joni Mitchell, James Taylor and Neil Young, as she from the age of 10 was active as a folk singer, also playing the guitar. In her teens she listened to Billie Holiday, Karin Krog and Sarah Vaughan, and as time went on Sheila Jordan, Betty Carter, Monica Zetterlund, Norma Winstone, Blossom Dearie, - to mention a few. Without any formal music training, she has learned from listening to singers as well as instrumentalists, on records and in concerts. Sandvik also sings the bossa nova, and she finds great inspiration in listening to, among others, Joao Gilberto, Edu Lobo, Leyla Pinheiro, Nana Caymmi, Gal Costa, Elis Regina and Rosa Passos. In the years 1993 – 2005 she led the bossa nova sextet “Bossa Nordpå” (meaning “bossa in the north”). Since 1998 she has her own jazz quintet, Marit Sandvik Band. Sandvik writes music for this band. From 1996 she has a duo with guitarist Øystein Norvoll. In 1993 she received the Thorgeir Stubøs Memorial Price for contributions to Northern Norways jazz milieu, both as a musician and as a leader of Tromsø Jazz Club (1990 - 1996). During the years Sandvik, besides doing tours and festival jobs, has participated on a lot of radio- and TV-shows, and been a soloist with big bands and choirs, among these in co-operation with trumpeter Tore Johansen, pianist Erlend Skomsvoll and saxophone players Henning Gravrok and Nisse Sandstrøm. She also sang West-African music for some years (1992 - 97).