Torgrim Sollid - Biography
Torgrim Sollid, born 17. June 1942 in Oslo, is a selfmade musician and composer. He started his carieer as a drummer in Jan Garbarek's first jazz quartet in 1962. In the early seventies he changed intstrument and started to play trumpet and flügelhorn.
In 1975 Torgrim Sollid started the group SØYR which was a result of his record "Østerdalsmusikk", and had Norwegian folk music as a basis. The band became a sensation in the Norwegian jazz world and had a series of successful appearances at festivals, on radio and television during 1977-78, with their wild improvisations on old and partly forgotten folk music. In 1978, the ensemble reorganized and changed style. With the internationally renowned trumpeter, composer and arranger Kenny Wheeler as a steady member, SØYR played a type of modern big band jazz but kept the wild and unorganized character of the first band. After comprehensive concertizing andtouring in '79 and '80, SØYR regrouped once again, this time with elements from cool jazz and return to folk music as a basis. The band's personality became relaced for a period of time, but the wild animal awoke once again and was active until the winter of 1986, when the present SØYR was started. In todays SØYR, they are working towards a fusion of our natural basis in improvised music and so-called "contemporary classical" music.
Torgrim Sollid have also worked with the well known saxophonist Warne March, both in Norway and USA over a period from 1980 to March's death in 1987. Two LP recordings was a result of this companienship. "Warne March in Norway" (1983) and "For the Rime Being" (1987).
Sollid has in the last years spent more and more time with composing. His compositions various from arrangements from folk tunes, jazz, brass band, choir, chamber music and music for string orhestras.
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