About
Motif (established 1999 in Trondheim, Norway) is an experimental jazz band, still polishing the personal sound they have been meticulously shaping since the beginning, with a Frank Zappa influence all around it (also present in the humouristic side of this proposal), a sound labeled as "a remarkable combination of powerful writing, simpatico free play, and stylistic cross-pollination" (John Kelman, Allaboutjazz). The musicians unite from bands such as Bugge Wesseltoft’s New Conceptions of Jazz, Atomic, Free Fall, Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, Motorpsycho, Generator X, Maria Kannegaard Trio and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, and are known from appearances with jazz artists such as Joshua Redman, John Scofield, Lee Konitz, Chick Corea, Jan Garbarek, Joe Lovano and Kenny Wheeler, and are all key players at the young European improvising scene.
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Motif has also appeared at a variety of festivals all over the world like the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Bremen Jazz Ahead, Hanoi European Jazz Festival, Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival, Vancouver Jazz Festival, Moldejazz and clubs all over Europe. They have also toured in Asia, visiting China, Japan (where they've played the Pit Inn in Tokyo) and Vietnam.
Members
Discography
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Reference
Tags
- jazz and blues
Identifiers
- MusicBrainz
- 95bd7658-9772-4f6c-af3a-665e69efbf97
Data from MusicBrainz, saved 12 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.