Stian Carstensen

Stian Carstensen (born 1971) is a multi-instrument Norwegian musical virtuoso.

Carstensen was born in Eidsvoll. He started as an accordion player at the age of 9. He first learned from his father, and later from a classical player which he attended for 4 years. During this time he played in Norwegian tv, radio, festivals etc. He also toured in America, playing classical music. At the same time he was also into swing jazz, and his father who also played bass, played standard tunes with him.

When he was 15 he started to play electric guitar in a rock band. After a while he started to get back the interest for jazz again, and formed a trio with some local artists. He lived as a freelancer a year or so and then he began to study in the conservatory in Trondheim, jazz department with the guitar as a main instrument. During his two years of study in Trondheim (1991–93) he formed the group Farmers Market. Farmers Market was originally a free jazz quintet, until they one day found a note with a Bulgarian folk tune in 11/16. This was a great experience for the boys,and they practiced day and night to be able to play this asymmetrical music.

After a while Stian bought a ticket to Bulgaria, and went around in the villages there to collect, and study the folk music there. The result of the tour was a live record, Speed/Balkan/Boogie, with singers & musicians from the famous "Le mysteres des voix bulgares" recorded at Molde international jazz festival in Norway. After this Stian was totally dedicated to the Bulgarian music. He toured a lot with musicians from Bulgaria, and Romania, and learned a lot from them.

Besides of being dedicated to this kind of music,he also took lessons in Composition, learned to play the 5-string banjo in bluegrass style, played with various jazz groups (be-bop, and experimental) with Jon Christensen and Bendik Hofseth to mention some.

In 1997 Farmers Market made their second album, Music from the Hybrides, with saxophonist Trifon Trifonov from Bulgaria. This was an extreme album with elements of many different styles and ideas from bluegrass in odd meters, To metallica like versions of traditional Balkan tunes,and slick commercial music mixed with Stockhausen. The album got very good reviews from many contemporary music magazines as well as rock,folk and jazz magazines in Europe.

In 1998 he was asked to write music for a Norwegian festival; Vossajazz. He wrote some music and put together a band consisting of his colleague Jarle Vespestad (one of the most talented young drummers in Norway which also play in Farmers Market), Django Bates from England, and Ernst Reijseger from Holland. The music was performed in April 98, with a great success. The choice of musicians was made by a careful hand, because they each had one thing in common; they were into a lot of styles at the same time. The music was composed in a contemporary spirit, but contained elements from many different styles without being artificial.

This seems to be a highlight in S.C.'s career, and he has been working a lot with that ensemble after this. Another highlight was his release of the new record Farmers Market on the German label Winter & Winter, he toured Europe and Japan with this band in 2000. They got very good reviews both on the album and the concert in magazines like The Wire, Rolling Stone etc. This year Farmers Market played at the world's biggest jazz festival, the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Hague, Holland.

He also plays with Dutch cello player Ernst Reijseger. They work as a duo playing only self-written stuff in various improvisational folk styles.

Last year he studied Bulgarian polyphony in Bulgaria, and rural American Afro-Celtic music in the Appalachians, on a fee from the Norwegian cultural department. He is currently on a two-year state fee to study Bulgarian traditional music. His instruments are: accordion, kaval (Bulgarian flute), bagpipes, guitar, violin, mandolin & banjo.

He played the accordionist in the circus band (and the soundtrack) of the 2005 Neil Gaiman, Dave McKean film MirrorMask.

He recently recorded his solo album, with only his own compositions for Winter & Winter, it will be released in 26 countries.