Subtonic is a quintet of young jazz musicians from Norway. The quintet stands out for its distinct approach towards various jazz traditions. The music is written by all the members of the band, and is inspired by both the American jazz tradition, as well as the European sound. The band has its origin from different musical styles such as mainstream jazz and more freely based music. Today the band has evolved their music more into peculiar and extended compositions, where they try to focus on rich and expressive melody lines, powerful rhythm section, as well as warm and somewhat 'viscid' vocal.

Subtonic was formed at the Norwegian Academy of Music. For the third consecutive year the band has been on a program sponsored by the Norwegian company Statoil in cooperation with Oslo Jazz festival. While participating at Oslo Jazz festival for the third time a month ago, the group has presented their first CD In This House.

Julie Dahle Aagård, making her debut with Subtonic this year, appears not only as vocalist, but also writes most of the lyrics. After graduating from Trondheim Conservatory, she has performed in various Norwegian theatre and music productions. For a while she was the soloist with the Norwegian National Television. Besides her work with the Subtonic, Aagård also has her own pop group.

The charging dialogues of Ole Jørn Myklebust's trumpet with Aagård's vocal add some very special 'touch' to the pieces of Subtonic. The graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music Mykleburst is a versatile musician, member of various ensembles, including Køhn/Johanses Sekstett, Geir Lysne Listening Ensemble, and folk jazz band Østenfor sol. Besides the latter, Mykleburst leads an popular music group Oj Trio, with which he appears both as a trumpet player and singer. As a member of the R.A. group, he was acknowledged the best young jazz musician of the year 2000.

Asbjørn Lerheim, a renowned figure on the Norwegian jazz scene, is guitarist and composer of the Subtonic. Along with Subtonic, he also plays with the Damp. In 2001, together with Damp he represented Norway at the European Jazz Contest in Avignon. Lerheim is also member of the Oj Trio. With the Trio he participated in a number of concert tours supported by the Rikskonserte, the Concert Institute of Norway.

Roger Arntzen, a double bassist with the Subtonic, is also a member of Damp. The musician also plays together with the trio In The Country, which was awarded the Young Musician Of The Year 2004. Arntzen leads the duo and trio with the pianist Morten Ovenild.

The drummer David Trübenbach also plays with the Movement quartet. At Kongsberg jazz festival 2004 he also made his debut with his own group Trüben.

© Jūratė Kučinskaitė