A brand new top band in Oslo’s music scene is the Salsa and Latin jazz JAZZON SEXTET. The band consists of musicians from Mexico, Perú, Hungary, Venezuela and Norway.
Their repertoire of jazz and latin music is inspired by internationally renowned artists such as Victor Mendoza, Michael Brecker, Tito Puente, Ruben Blades and Poncho Sanchez.
At the same time, Jazzon focuses on songs composed by the band's musicians and collective creations. Jazzon places itself in a musical landscape with a concept that consists of mainstream and progressive jazz with a foundation traditional and popular Latin American rhythms. The Latin jazz side of this sextet is largely based on improvisation.
The band's vocalist, percussionist and frontman Kike Rivera from Perú who has played in various salsa bands in Norway and many other European countries at music and dance festival/events for many years.
Antonio torner
Drummer and percussionist Antonio Torner is from Mexico, but has lived in Norway for more than 20 years and is a widely used studio and session musician. Among other things, he has worked for the National Concerts. He is very versatile and masters most styles from salsa and samba to rock and jazz. He has played with famous artists such as Gloria Trevi, Hanne Tveter and Margaret Berger among others. He is a widely sought-after drummer and teacher, and holds frequent workshops for all age groups.
Fermin Fortiz
Bassist Fermin Fortiz is also from Mexico. He is a well-established jazz musician and composer in his home country. He has many years of experience as a music teacher, as a performing artist on the Mexican jazz scene and as an internationally touring pop artist, including with Grammy-winning Chilean pop star Mon Laferte. He also has a number of studio recordings behind him, both with other artists and as a solo artist / composer. Here in Norway he has mainly worked as a music teacher.
Zsolt Molnar
Vibraphonist Zsolt Molnar comes from Hungary and has lived in Norway for about 8 years. He has extensive experience as a jazz musician and has given concerts and toured in Hungary, Norway and many other European countries. He has been on a number of recordings and TV appearances with various famous musicians. In recent years he has worked as a freelance musician and teacher of drums and vibraphone in Norway and played with various bands on e.g. Moldejazz, Kongsberg jazz festival, Herr Nilsen and other Norwegian jazz and Latin scenes.
Arne K. Rødvik
Pianist and keyboardist Arne K Rødvik has many years of experience as a freelance musician based in the Oslo area. Has played with a number of
multicultural bands and had a long-standing collaboration with artists such as a. Cheb Hocine and Safaa Al-Saadi. He is also a composer and arranger and has several record releases behind him. He currently plays with Ski big band.
Ruben Pirela
Our percussionist Ruben Pirela, began his musical studies at the age of 4 at the Jose Luis Paz Conservatory in Maracaibo, Venezuela. At the age of 10 he began to be part of the percussion chair of the conservatory and just 3 months later, he performed a concert as a soloist with the Antonio Vivaldi Orchestra of his city, At the age of 12 he was Pre-selected to form part of the National Children's Orchestra of Venezuela. At the age of 13 he became part of the Rafael Urdaneta Zuliana Youth Symphony Orchestra, which was the orchestra that represented his state at the national level. At the age of 14 he became part of the national children's orchestra which was conducted by Simon Rattle, current director of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, and was also conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, current director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. From that age on he was also invited 3 consecutive times to the International Percussion Festival of the Llanos in Venezuela. in which in the 3rd edition he was part of the National Percussion Orchestra having also the opportunity to give a concert together with Dave Samuels, director of the Caribbean Jazz Project in the United States. At the age of 16 he represented Venezuela at the International Festival of Culture of Bergamo, Italy as a percussionist of the Rafael Urdaneta Youth Symphony Orchestra, At the age of 19 he began his career as a Percussion teacher, receiving recognition from the state for their work. In Norway he has been able to give concerts with different groups, the most recent with Son Candela at the Oslo Caribbean Feeling.
