Daniel Herskedal

Since issuing his debut recording City Stories in 2010, Norwegian composer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Herskedal has approached the tuba and bass trumpet as vehicles for constant reinvention, testing both their technical reach and timbral range. Blending rigorous classical methods with jazz spontaneity, echoes of Arabic and Norwegian folk traditions, and a vivid cinematic sensibility, his writing fuses rather than juxtaposes these elements through recurring motifs and richly resonant textures that have resonated with audiences and reviewers worldwide. The first three albums he led for Edition Records—Slow Eastbound Train in 2015, The Roc in 2017, and Voyage in 2019—formed a conceptual trilogy exploring physical and atmospheric settings, translating landscapes into corresponding sonic environments. In 2020 he unveiled the fully solo Call for Winter, layering tuba and bass trumpet with percussive overdubs to evoke wintry scenes of terrain, air, and ocean; Harbour followed in July 2021 with his established trio, and Desert Lighthouse appeared alongside pipe organist Magnus Moksnes Myhre. The quartet project Out of the Fog arrived in 2022. After extensive touring and collaboration with traditional Saami vocalist Marja Mortensson—an association that began in 2017—he issued the digital album A Single Sunbeam in March 2024 and the solo sequel Call for Winter II: Resonance in September.

Herskedal entered the world in Molde in 1982. He took up the French horn during school years before switching to tuba in his teens. Although steeped in classical training, his primary pull was toward jazz, which he first pursued through studies at the Storyville Jazz Club while still enrolled in the school music program. Together with fellow clinic participants he founded the traditional jazz ensemble Dixi, cutting multiple albums prior to relocating to Trondheim for studies at the Trondheim Musikkonsevatorium, where he completed a bachelor’s degree in jazz. During that period he helped establish the trio Listen! alongside pianist Espen Berg and saxophonist Bendik Giske; the group released two favorably received albums and remains active. Their self-titled 2007 recording preceded extensive European, Syrian, and Cuban tours that left a lasting mark on Herskedal. He later earned a master’s degree in jazz tuba from Copenhagen’s Rhythmic Music Conservatory and joined its faculty. While there he wrote a thesis examining the convergence of joik and jazz and composed the orchestral piece A Sacred Narrative, premiered at Kong Haakon Kirke—the Norwegian Seamen’s Church—in 2007. In 2008 he appeared on former teacher Django Bates’ Spring Is Here (Shall We Dance), and the following year contributed to Jens Carelius’ The Beat of the Travel.

Herskedal’s first album, City Stories, emerged on NorCD in 2010, featuring a quintet of brass, reeds, acoustic guitar, and percussion. It garnered praise and radio play throughout Norway and Denmark, forging an innovative link between jazz and crossover classical idioms. In 2011 he assembled the Magic Pocket quartet with trombonist Erik Johannessen, trumpeter Hayden Powell, and drummer Erik Nylander. That year the group recorded The Katabatic Wind alongside pianist Morten Qvenild and Kinetic Music with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. Herskedal also participated in Katzenjammer’s album A Kiss Before You Go.

In 2012, alongside saxophonist Marius Neset and the Svanholm Singers, he released Neck of the Woods on Edition Records. The next year saw Dagane appear on NorCD; co-produced by drummer and percussionist Anton Eger, the expansive ensemble work incorporated brass, reeds, winds, strings, percussion, piano, vocalist, and choir, with Neset as featured soloist. Herskedal reciprocated by performing on Neset’s 2014 collaboration with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, Birds and Lion.

Signing as a solo artist with Edition, Herskedal issued Slow Eastbound Train in 2015, supported by pianist Eyolf Dale, percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken, and the Trondheim Soloists. The recording earned international acclaim for its expansive sonorities, poised writing, and evocations of natural settings. He spent the ensuing two years touring extensively in varied configurations while forming the trio Kaktusch with Eger and Neset. The Roc followed in 2017, continuing the environmental trilogy; it featured Dale, Norbakken, cellist/bassist Svante Henryson, and violist Bergmund Waal Skaslien, with Neset producing. The album reflected Herskedal’s longstanding interest in Arab music, shaped by earlier travels through Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine. That same year he made his first recorded appearance with Saami joik singer Marja Mortensson on her debut Aarehgïjre = Early Spring; he rejoined her the following year for the Spellemannprisen-winning Mojhtestasse = Cultural Heirlooms.

The year 2019 marked several milestones. Herskedal’s arrangement of John Phillips’ “San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Some Flowers in Your Hair)” featured in the Brad Pitt-produced film The Last Black Man in San Francisco and served as the soundtrack for Coca-Cola’s global “Open Like Never Before” campaign. He also received commissions from the BBC and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. With Mortensson he released the duo album Lååje = Dawn, accompanied by the Trondheim String Soloists Quartet, and delivered Voyage, concluding the Environments trilogy with impressionistic depictions of maritime scenes. In December, Naxos presented the first recording of his modern classical suite Behind the Wall, again drawing on Middle Eastern and North African influences and performed by oboist/English horn player Elin Tort Meland, pianist Gro Merete Hjertvik, and cellist Kjell Magne Robak.

Call for Winter, Herskedal’s fourth Edition release, appeared in 2020 and diverged from prior work: the entire album was realized solo through overdubbed tuba and bass trumpet, incorporating his personally developed sonorities, overtones, synthesized percussion loops, and field recordings. In May he and pipe organist Magnus Moksnes Myhre issued Desert Lighthouse. Harbour, a trio recording with Dale and drummer/percussionist Helge Andreas Norbakken, followed in July. September brought the seasonal collection Raajroe = The Reindeer Caravan, on which Herskedal appeared alongside Mortensson, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, and drummer Jakop Janssøn. The next year he released the quartet album Harbour featuring guitarist/sonic innovator Eivind Aarset, drummer Helge Norbakken, and vocalist Emilie Nicolas. Session and touring activity continued in 2023, including appearances on Mari Kalkun’s Lood = Stories of Stonia for Real World Recordings and Bror, pianist/composer/producer Ivan Blomqvist’s second Jazzland album. In March 2024 Herskedal issued the digital long-player A Single Sunbeam on Edition, recorded with drummer Norbakken, vocalist Mortensson, and string player/electronicist Ola Kvernberg. He joined Mortensson again for B​å​almaldahkesne = Entwined in June and, in September, delivered his own solo statement Call for Winter II: Resonance.