Jazz Pianist, Composer, arranger, band leader, professor
Together with Estonian saxophone player Villy Veski, Jan Gunnar Hoff has recorded a new duo album in the spectacular Arvo Pärt Centre in Estonia. The centre is located in the coastal village of Laulasmaa in Lääne-Harju Parish, Estonia, about 35 kilometres (22 mi) to the west from Tallinn. It was established in 2010 by the Pärt family.
Hoff and Veski have recorded original works by both composers. Their album is still in process and will be released late 2025 or in 2026.
The new Jan Gunnar Hoff Group-album with his all star European line up: Nguyen Le, Gary Husband and Per Mathisen, will be out in May 2025 on Losen Records (Odd Gjelsnes). Cover photo by Kjersti Holst. 
Jan Gunnar Hoff´s tune “Autumn Breeze”, performed on the album “Northwest” by the ensemble “Hoff Somsen Lindholm” has passed 1 mill streams on Apple Music. Hoff´s composition has made it into Apple Music Jazz playlists, which contributes to the streaming success.
Jan Gunnar Hoff´s new work “Heartlands” was premiered December 20, 2024, in the Bodø Cathedral, with an audience of 600 attending. The local reviews were effusive (Rune Slyngstad, Avisa Nordland):
“Powerful, sacred, melancholic and meaningful. The work Heartlands is gold”. Local review (Norwegian):
The theme for this new composition is nature, climate, environment and not least: ourselves in this perspective. Why are we up here in the north, what does nature mean to us, what can’t we do without? The issue has been brought up to date in recent years with large projects that threaten to turn our mountains and nature into industrial areas, i.e. wind power and wind turbines. The untouched nature becomes the subject of speculation and major interventions, something we have to react to. This scenario is the background for the title “Heartlands”, which means: “an area that a nation cannot lose without losing itself”. Subtitles:
1. Dawn
2. Heartlands
3. Earth alert
4. The words
5. Freedom
6. Heartlands II
Line up: Bodø cathedral choir, Karoline Åseng (vocal soloist), Børge Petersen-Øverleir (guitar), Rune Arnesen (drums/perc), JGH (keys, piano, church organ), Gjermund Silset (bass).
A new recording with Jan Gunnar Hoff, Per Mathisen, Gary Husband and Nguyen Le took place in Oslo, September 10-12, 2024, at Propeller Music Division, Oslo. Compositions by Hoff, Nguyen Le, Husband and Mathisen were recorded.
Short video from the recording session (cc: Gary Husband)
The trio “Hoff/the Somsen/Lindholm” releases their first album “Northwest” on September 6, 2024, on Challenge Records. The album is produced and will be available on CD through international distribution channels and streaming formats.
Jan Gunnar Hoff performed July 25-26 with Per Mathisen quartet feat Gary Husband, Nguyen Le, at Porgy and Bess in Vienna and at the jazz festival in Ceske Budejovice, Czech Republic. Photos from Budejovice: Michal Sykora
Jan Gunnar Hoff & Per Mathisen feat Gary Husband, Nguyen Le performed at the Arts festival of Northern Norway in Harstad, June 26, 2024.
Quote from reviews: “Musically, this is one of the best things one can experience within jazz fusion. With its top musicians, the quartet delivered a superb product of the highest international brand! This is the fourth concert the group has held, – after one in Romania, Oslo and Bodø and they will go on to festivals in Vienna and the Czech Republic. It’s almost as if you want to follow suit, because this was a concert experience with the likes of whom deserve top marks plus!”
The trio “Hoff/Somsen/Lindholm” performed 2 concerts in Germany, Paderborn 10/5 and Hannover 17/5 – 2024, at Schloss Landestrost in Neustadt, Niedersachsen. Both gigs pulled a solid audience with great response and acclamation. Photos: Helmut Dobratz. Review Paderborn 10/5
Travels (JGH) were supported by Nordnorsk Jazzsenter and Norsk Jazzforum ad hoc.
Jan Gunnar Hoff performed 3 concerts at Bodø Jazz Open 2024. Duo concert with Silje Nergaard, trio with Hoff/Somsen/Lindholm and finally “Hoff & Mathisen feat Gary Husband, Nguyên Lê”. Link to BJO-website.
Jan Gunnar Hoff has written a piece for symphony orchestra, a commission for NASOL, an organization of Norwegian symphony orchestras. The composition, «The Forest» was performed in Mosjøen and Trondheim, January 2024. Video (and pianist): Franziska Wika.