Blue Notes With Balke

For nearly 50 years, Jon Balke has enriched the world with his musical palette.

However, he cannot distinguish between red and green, something the music world can be thankful for. His dream was to become something entirely different.

– I was supposed to be a pilot, but I'm colour-blind. If you can't tell the difference between lanterns and lights meant to guide you, you're automatically excluded from the skies, Balke laughs.

Where sight posed a limitation, hearing came to his aid. Jon Balke was immersed in music from infancy, thanks to his father, who, although he worked as a lecturer, pursued music throughout his life.

– He was a versatile musician, playing the clarinet as well as the guitar, piano, and double bass. I grew up in a home filled with music, Balke explains.

Jon Balke has no memories of tiresome rehearsals or sacrificing other activities during his childhood. Music has always been a source of joy for him.

If he ever found himself bored, he would change things up. His piano teacher's Czerny études were swiftly set aside in favour of his father's Duke Ellington sheet music.

– My self-motivation has always been strong. Growing up, I spent a lot of time exploring music, particularly jazz and blues-oriented styles, as well as the cello. I had a fantastic teacher, Arne Novang, who was the principal cellist with the Oslo Philharmonic. Although the cello wasn't the instrument I developed the most, I still play it privately, Balke explains, noting his extensive work with percussion, synth, and electronic music alongside the piano.

– Do you remember the first time jazz struck you?

– The first memory I have of jazz music is the trio album 'Money Jungle' with Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, and Max Roach, which hit me hard at the age of 12. There was a dark energy there that fascinated me greatly. I sensed some kind of freedom in the musical expression that was very appealing.

It was precisely the lack of freedom that set Jon Balke's career direction. After spending two years in the music program at Hartvig Nissen School, he decided to drop out.

– It was a regime characterised by extremely strict classical pedagogy where we wrote four-part harmony, and the tritone was forbidden. I constantly got red marks in the book because I took many liberties and opposed the established norms.

Instead, Jon Balke started working. By the age of 19, he was a professional musician, eventually playing alongside his brother Erik and the iconic jazz vocalist Radka Toneff, with whom he worked regularly until her death in 1982.

Throughout the 70s and 80s, he collaborated with jazz names like Jon Eberson, Karin Krog, and Sidsel Endresen and was one of the original members of the supergroup Maqualero.

At 28, Balke received Norway's highest jazz accolade, the Buddy Award. International awards and collaborations with numerous jazz greats have also been part of his journey.

– What have you aimed to convey through jazz?

– A type of honesty. For me, jazz is a quest for an original expression that does not compete with anything else but is a direct artistic statement from a creative soul to the world. Within this lies an ethic—a message about listening to oneself and contributing to the world with what you genuinely feel.

Being able to operate in a free landscape has guided all of Jon Balke's choices.

– I have a mind where ideas constantly pop up, and I want to pursue them. It seems very unsatisfying to produce music according to set criteria. I've tasted what it's like to be a film composer and had to adhere to many external guidelines, but it didn't leave me wanting more, Balke observes.

– Where do you search for sources?

– I had a period from my mid-20s when I travelled extensively around the world, listening to what is now known as world music. This was before the internet, and before it became a genre. I visited West Africa, Brazil, India, and China multiple times.

– Those were very formative years, as I realised that music is so much more than the narrow field I had explored. I also had a long period where I was deeply fascinated by contemporary music from the 60s, 70s, and 80s.

When Jon Balke began to aspire more seriously in composition, he realised that his lack of formal education had led to significant knowledge gaps.

– I reached out to Olav Anton Thommessen, who was a professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music. 'There's no police stopping you from attending my lectures,' he said, so I attended orchestration classes for a few years, Balke recalls with a smile.

He eventually became involved with the sonology approach, focusing on music as sound and energy, and engaged with an emerging community at Høvikodden for electro-acoustic music.

– Gradually, I also started delving into jazz history, Balke shares, highlighting the diverse sources of inspiration he has tapped into over the years.

Jon Balke views his compositions as frameworks, providing room for each musician to explore their own universe.

– Why do you pursue such elements of uncertainty in music?

– It's about the possibility of experiencing a Eureka moment on stage. It's immensely satisfying when things emerge that aren't planned—or perhaps they are planned but not guaranteed to happen. It's a kind of release of musical energy that I haven't found any other way to achieve.

Having a basic structure, like a chord progression or a repeating bass line, perhaps with a soloist on top, while incorporating many open sections, is a fruitful "template," according to Balke.

– The duration of musical intensity will always vary depending on acoustics, sound conditions on stage, the individual performers' state on the day, and so on. Being able to extend or conclude these processes based on whether things are dying out or whether there's an energy that just keeps growing – that's the flexibility I'm after, and it guides my compositional choices, he explains.

In the 1990s, Jon Balke amplified the volume of his imagination, allowing his music to explore new, unexpected landscapes.

Central to this exploration were musical antics with the trio "Jøkleba." He also established the "Magnetic North Orchestra," drawing inspiration from Nordic music culture and folk music.

In the 2000s, he launched the project Siwan, a musical mosaic blending Arabic music, Renaissance, and Baroque.

– What underpins successful collaboration?

– Presence and concentration from all participants—constantly. When no sequence is 100% predetermined, everyone needs to be alert. Listening to the ongoing processes and responding to direction from me. This requires openness and a willingness to collaborate from everyone involved, he explains.

– It doesn't work well with big egos interested in self-promotion. All the orchestras I've been involved with have functioned as a kind of collective.

Yet, jazz history is replete with big egos who thought quite differently. A young and unsure Jon Balke once found himself knocked off the piano stool by the legendary tenor saxophonist Archie Shepp.

– He thought my arpeggio for Karin Krog was far too timid and instead hammered away at the piano himself. It was actually a valuable lesson; to dare to be assertive, Balke laughs.

On May 3rd, the concert "Magnetic Works" will be held at the Norwegian Academy of Music, showcasing music from Jon Balke's entire career alongside some of Norway's leading musicians and students.

Being in contact with students feels personally and mentally enriching, according to Balke.

– Since I started working at the Academy in 2021, I've been forced to verbalise many things that I've developed entirely intuitively. My education has been sitting in the tour bus, listening to older musicians talk about music, picking up tips here and there, and developing what I think works. I've never had to articulate it before.

– Can you articulate what a jazz talent is?

– The term jazz has become very problematic because it's so open and has so many layers. But I am delighted when I hear someone with an original expression, someone exploring something beyond mere stylistic exercises. It can be at a very tentative stage.

– I'm much more interested in that than in dazzling virtuosity within an established style.

As an associate professor at the Norwegian Academy of Music, Jon Balke's guidance is not focused on sales or streaming figures.

– I've had quite a few forum discussions with students. Originality; does it exist? What is art? What motivates us in what we do? I try to be cautious about imposing my opinions and instead aim to liberate students' thinking on these topics, Balke notes.

Having lived the life of a non-commercial artist, he has experienced both the highs and lows.

– Even though I've been very fortunate and had a fairly steady stream of opportunities, there have been times with little work. During those periods, you can quickly feel sidelined and wonder about the future of it all, before things start to pick up again.

Jon Balke has always been intrigued by interactions with other art forms. When he formed the musical think tank Batagraf, the goal was to explore the connections between rhythm, language, and literary content.

Collaborations with Kjell Bjørgengen, an early pioneer of video art in Norway, as well as choreographers and artists, have enriched his life as a musician, according to Balke.

He has also worked closely with his wife, Tone Myskja, a visual artist specialising in video installations.

– Understanding the extension of musical power and seeing how it manifests in other media is incredibly fascinating. The same goes for modern dance. When musical energy aligns with the bodily movements of dancers, you connect with another musical dimension.

– Are you more interested in the abstract than a concrete message?

– I've been politically active since my teens. With the coup in Chile, I created many songs with titles from that conflict, and I engaged in discussions: Can music be political? Is there a political message in abstract music? Opinions were divided. On the far left, for example, there was a clear stance that 'rock is red.

– But I felt that the discussions didn't lead anywhere. Instead, I became interested in art that opens up a space for reflection, rather than art that tells you what to think.

Balancing family life with an international music career hasn't always been easy for Jon Balke.

– There are sacrifices on both sides. Concert activities mean being away from home, yet there have been many great opportunities I've turned down to be with my wife and two daughters. It's a balancing act that one must be willing to engage in, Balke emphasizes.

Today, his daughters are long grown, and in June, Jon Balke will turn 70.

– Do you still have much left to accomplish musically?

– Absolutely! There are many things that have been left unfinished due to lack of time—sketches, recordings, and sheet music that need refining. Although the concert market has changed significantly post-pandemic, I also have solo concerts on the horizon.

Jon Balke sounds almost breathless just thinking about everything that needs to be squeezed into the future. Perhaps there will still be room for a passion that has long been shelved.

Where the dream of becoming a pilot faded, paragliding has been a significant interest throughout his life.

– Paragliding is related to music, but it is so time consumig that I had to let it go.

– What is it that fascinates you about it?

– From the moment you pull up the canopy on a mountainside, there's a point of no return, very much like stepping onto the stage. It's a risk-based focus situation full of uncertainties, requiring a sensitivity to the forces acting on the canopy. How can you utilise the air currents to stay afloat? When you land, the adrenaline rush is akin to what you feel when you step off stage after a successful concert.

– I'm constantly pondering whether I should take it up again. We'll see, Balke smiles.