Saxophonist Frøy Aagre has studied saxophone and composition in Oslo, Birmingham, London, New York and Buenos Aires. In New York she studied with the world famous saxophonist David Liebman. Frøy Aagre has toured Norway, England, Africa and New York with different bands. At the age of 22 she played at the prestigious jazz club “Ronnie Scott’s. She has received numerous prizes and scholarships. In 2005 she received the prestigous 1-year Composition Scholarship from the Norwegian Government.
Pianist Andreas Ulvois currently a Master student at The Norwegian State Academy of Music in Oslo. He plays with bands like Shining, Ulvo Trio and Eple Trio. He has also composed music for various ensembles and short films.
The bass player Audun Ellingsen studied at Leeds College of Music in England. He played with Tomasz Stanko/ Bobo Stenson at the European Jazz Odyssey Orchestra in 2004. He has toured Belgium, France, England and Norway with the jazz band Sphinxs, which represented Norway at the prestigious Jazz festival Tremplin Jazz d’Avignon in 2003.
The drummer Freddy Wike has worked as a freelance musician in Oslo for many years, and he has done projects and recording sessions musicians like Helge Lien, Arve Henriksen, Trygve Seim, Ove Støylen and Jan Magne Førde.
The Norwegian composer and saxophonist Frøy Aagre and her band Offbeat play beautiful melodic contemporary jazz. Their second album, Countryside, will be released in January 22. 2007. Frøy Aagre and Offbeat received excellent reviews for the debutalbum Katalyze (2004). The album proves that Offbeat is one of the most exciting up and coming jazz bands in their genre. Frøy Aagre compose all the music for Offbeat. She is one of very few female saxophonists and composers in Norway. Her compositions are both imaginative and original and Aagre plays her music with a sense of serenity and a pure tone that move the listener deeply. Reviewers have compared Aagre with saxophone legends such as Jan Garbarek, David Liebman and Wayne Shorter. Her band Offbeat consists of some of the most talented musicians on the Norwegian jazz scene: Andreas Ulvo Langnes (piano), Audun Ellingsen (bass) and Freddy A. Wike(drums).
