Photo: Helge Skodvin
"Skarbø moves fluidly between measured cadences, pulse-free surges, and patient silences, contributing most by contributing just what the music needs." DUSTED MAGAZINE
Øyvind Skarbø, b. 1982, is a drummer, composer and producer based in Bergen, Norway. He studied with Terje Isungset from 2004-2006, and has also studied Norwegian, Cuban and Yoruba traditional music.
Øyvind has played on 43 albums, and performed in 29 countries. He received the Vossajazz Prize in 2016 and the TONO Edvard award in 2022.
Telehiv is his current main project, for which he composes most of the material. Their debut Mehmet was released on Skarbø's own Øyvind Jazzforum in February 2025.
Skarbø Skulekorps was his main unit between 2018–2025, performing Skarbø's originals exclusively The ensemble, featuring the who's who of Scandinavian musicians, received high acclaim for their three albums Skarbø Skulekorps (Hubro, 2019) and Dugnad (Hubro, 2021), the latter receiving the prestigious EDVARD award. The group performed on national TV and Øyafestivalen, the largest pop festival in Norway. Innesko was released Øyvind Jazzforum label in 2023.
Superless is a new project featuring Jeff Parker, Eirik Hegdal and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. The quartet released their debut album in 2023 to great critical acclaim.
Since 2006 he has been a strong presence on the European scene, initiating several highly acclaimed projects. These include his long-running trio 1982 with Nils Økland on Hardanger fiddle and Sigbjørn Apeland on harmonium. Between 2007–2018, the trio released 5 albums (and one bottle mail) and toured across Europe. The electric trio Bly de Blyant (2012–2015) where Skarbø composed and produced all the music, featured Hilmar Jensson on guitar and Shahzad Ismaily on bass. The band released three albums on Hubro. In 2016 he initiated the international quartet Inland Empire, which included Kris Davis (piano), Fredrik Ljungkvist (tenor sax) and Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and released an album on Clean Feed. From 2012–2018 Øyvind toured and recorded two albums for Håkon Kornstad's highly successful Tenor Battle project.
He runs the record label Øyvind Jazzforum. Since 2006 he has organized a concert series for improvised music under the same name in Bergen. In 2015 he arranged the 1982 Festival and in 2020 the festival Jazzknappleik, together with Paal Nilssen-Love, Jens Borge and Isach Skeidsvoll.
Since 2017, Skarbø has stepped forward also as composer and producer. Apart from his music for Skarbø Skulekorps, this has resulted in such works as 25MB RAM for video and string quartet, debuted at the Borealis-festival 2018; and Psst! and PSST2; two scenic performances made in collaboration with fellow drummer Øyvind Hegg-Lunde and illustrator Fredrik Rysjedal, building on many years of experience performing for children.
GET IN TOUCH:
oyvindskarbo @ gmail.com
