Bjørn Vidar Solli

Bjørn Vidar Solli
Solli at Herr Nielsen during the 2016 Oslo Jazzfestival. Photo by Tore Sætre
Background information
Born	(1979-08-01) 1 August 1979 (age 37)
Origin	Norway
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, composer
Instruments	Guitar, vocals

Bjørn Vidar Solli (born 1 August 1979 in Skien, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (vocals and guitar) and composer.

Solli started his musical career as a singer when he was 11 years old, and before he was 13 he had already performed more than 200 concerts. At the age of 18 he attended jazz studies at Music Conservatory in Trondheim (1998-2002) as the youngest student ever. In 2002 he was named this year's young jazz musician of Rikskonsertene and Norsk jazzforum, and he has consequently had a number of tours in Norway for Rikskonsertene.

Together with his band Solid! (Daniel Formo, organ, Håkon Mjåset Johansen/Truls Rønning, drums) Solli has toured much of the world. In 2003 the band won first prize at the International Jazz Competition in Getxo in Spain, gave in 2005 the album Solid!, followed by Happy Accidents (2007) and Visitor (2010), along with the tenor saxophonist Seamus Blake.

Solli has won several soloist awards at international jazz festivals and competitions, including the Gibson Jazz Guitar Competition at the Montreux Jazz Festival (2005), and the Monaco International Jazz Soloist Competition (2006). As a soloist he contributes on the Hot Club de Norvèges album A Stranger in Town (2004).

From January 2007, he has partly lived and worked as a freelance jazz musician in New York. During home visits, he has collaborated on the Guy Sion album Away (2012).

Solli has as a member of the Andreas Dreier Trio, together with the bass player Andreas Dreier and drummer Adam Pache, released the albums Poinciana (Losen Records) og Ahmad Jamal Prosjekt (2014). In 2016 he presented his latest albums at Sildajazz featuring the saxophonist Seamus Blake.