Vigleik Storaas

Vigleik Storaas (born 2 February 1963) is a Norwegian jazz pianist and composer, and the younger brother of composer and bassist Gaute Storaas.

He is known from a series of album releases and collaborations with jazz musicians such as Norma Winstone, Karin Krog, Terje Rypdal, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, Chet Baker, Jack DeJohnette and Warne Marsh.

During the 1980s, Storaas played with the bands Kråbøl, Søyr, Bjørn Alterhaug Band and Fair Play, and was the bandleader of the group Lines (1987–92).

Storås was born in Bergen, and studied music at the U-Phils High School in Bergen before attending the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1982–84), what today is the Department of Music Technology (NTNU), where he was the leader of the Bodega Band (1990–1996), and is now Assistant Professor.

Storaas has toured for the Rikskonsertene with the "Musikk for fred" (1984–86), "So Ro Godt Barn" (1987–90), "Mennesket i Mengden" (1989–90), "Fair Play" (1989), "All That Jazz" (1993), "Kombinasjoner" (1995) and "Meeting Point" (1997 and 2000), and was named Jazz Musician of the Year by the Association of Norwegian Jazz Musicians in 1996.

During 1992 to 1995 Storaas joined the international jazz profiles Karin Krog and John Surman, and he participated on the record Nordic Quartet from 1994.

Here he was recognised as composer both in Norway and internationally.

Storaas created his own trio in 1992 with fellow students Johannes Eick and Per Oddvar Johansen; this trio has made several recordings.

More recently he has performed in a quartet with students (at NTNU) Tore Johansen (trumpet), Rune Nergaard (bass) and Gard Nilssen (drums).

Albums under his own name are Bilder (1995), Andre Bilder (1997), both received Spellemannprisen (The Norwegian Grammy Award), Open Excursions (1999) and Subsonic (2002).

In 1999 he performed commissioned work Mosaic at Vossajazz, The International Jazz Festival at Voss, Norway.

With the Bjørn Alterhaug Quintet he played at the Molde International Jazz Festival 2012.