Einar Iversen

Career

Iversen grew up in Oslo and studied classical piano under Inge Rolf Ringnes, Artur Schnabel, and Finn Mortensen. He became active in the Oslo jazz scene in 1949. His first album was released in 1953 with Rowland Greenberg's orchestra. In 1958 he received the Buddyprisen. He performed at Birdland with Dizzy Gillespie in 1952, on the America Boat with Anthony Ortega in 1954 and the Modern Jazz Quartet in 1955, and was a regular pianist at Metropol Jazz Club, where he played with Dexter Gordon in 1962, Coleman Hawkins in 1963, and Johnny Griffin in 1964. He also played with Svend Asmussen and Stuff Smith in Sweden in 1965. His trio, with Tor Hauge and Jon Christensen, released Norway's first jazz trio recording, Me and My Piano, in 1967. He collaborated with Swedish musicians Putte Wickman, Monica Zetterlund, and Povel Ramel on tour in 1978. In Norway he participated in releases with Bjarne Nerem, Egil Johansen, Totti Bergh, Nora Brockstedt, and Ditlef Eckhoff. Later albums include Jazz på norsk (1990), Who can I turn to (1991), Portrait of a norwegian jazz artist – Einar Iversen (2001), and Seaview (2001). He died on 3 April 2019 at age 88.