Espen Berg Trio

The award-winning and critically acclaimed Espen Berg Trio is back with their fifth album, 'Entropies', which will be released on June 5, 2026 on Svale. The album continues the trio's qualities in the best way, and appears to be their most concise and at the same time most open release to date.

Espen Berg – piano/compositions
Bárður Reinert Poulsen – bass
Simon Olderskog Albertsen – drums

Since their debut in 2014, the Espen Berg Trio has established themselves as one of the most prominent piano trios in European jazz. They have toured Europe, Japan, China and India, sold out clubs such as Ronnie Scott's in London, concert halls in Tokyo, Guangzhou and Athens, and have been described by the British Jazz Journal as "one of the best trios in existence today". With four critically acclaimed albums behind them, the trio has continuously challenged and renewed the piano trio format through a unique combination of complex rhythms, deep harmonic understanding, strong melodies and intense, playful interplay.

Entropies revolves around the tension between order and disintegration — the planned and the immediate. Berg has written a bunch of powerful melodies, but also challenges with
spontaneously composed songs and polymetric structures that place both the trio and the listeners right on the edge of their seats.

Some of the songs have been further colored with fantastic contributions from Flavia Huarachi (flute), Joakim Munkner (cello) and Nils Olav Johansen (guitar, vocals), but the trio also stands firmly on its own two feet with Berg's newly written compositions, as well as in their current interpretation of the Sting classic Russians.

References to music by Craig Taborn, Brad Mehldau, Keith Jarrett and Nik Bärtsch can be sensed, but Entropies primarily bears a clear and personal imprint: an organic interplay where precision and freedom exist side by side, and where the music seems to be constantly in motion.

Espen Berg was described as a "true master of the piano" by All About Jazz after his debut album Noctilucent (2012). His latest solo release, The Kempen Concert (2025), was hailed as "one of the most important piano recordings of all time" by German Radio listeners. Berg was appointed Sparebank1 SMN JazZstipendiat at Moldejazz in 2016 and official Steinway artist in 2023, and is active in a number of collaborations with, among others, Silje Nergaard, Mathias Eick, Sarah Chaksad and Hildegunn Øiseth.

With Entropies, Espen Berg Trio confirms its position as one of the strongest voices on the Norwegian jazz scene today – uncompromising, vital and constantly evolving.