Our guide to Oslo Worlds: Six routes through the week!

There are only a few weeks left until this year's edition of Oslo World - but what concerts should you choose? Every year we ask audience members, colleagues, music enthusiasts and venues what they would like to hear during the festival. We are proud of this years program as a whole, but we are also happy to admit that the result can seem quite chaotic at first glance, with its mixture of folk music, pop, club music, experimental stuff and everything else. We have tried to make some sense of it all – here are six themes from this year's roster that might be helpful in your search for the next great concert experience.

1. Legend Alert: 

The opening concert in Oslo Konserthus with Marisa Monte is long sold out (everyone who wants is invited to the opening party at Becco afterwards, where Erlend Mokkelbost and Anja Bajer play Brazilian music!), but there are many legendary names coming to the city in week 44. If we stay in Brazil, the virtuoso guitarist Egberto Gismonti visits Cosmopolite already on Tuesday. It will be a meeting with a master who has moved effortlessly between boundless contemporary jazz (among other things with Norwegian musicians such as Jan Garbarek and Arild Andersen), modern classical music and Brazilian folk music. On the same evening, one of Uruguay's greatest artists, the visionary and poetic singer-songwriter Jorge Drexler, plays at Sentrum Stage.

On Wednesday, something we've been looking forward to for a long time will happen: Hailu Mergia is coming to Oslo World. We had actually booked the Ethiopian cult artist a few years ago, but the pandemic got in the way. Now, however, Mergia, with a career stretching back to the sixties and who left his mark on the golden age of Ethio jazz in the 70s, is ready for one of the city's finest stages: Nasjonal Jazzscene Victoria. Check out Pioneer Works Swing (Live) if you're curious about how he sounds at the moment - it's worth it. Here you can also buy a double ticket to Mergia and Gutu Abera, and experience two different, brilliant artists with Ethiopian roots. But hurry - it's going to be a sold out show at Victoria.

On Saturday, Luzmila Carpio will be on the same stage. The singer, songwriter, producer and actor is of Quechuan origin and is one of Bolivia's greatest living artists. A rebel who still pushes boundaries - she released one of her best albums, Inti Watana - El Retorno del Sol, last year.  

It’s no longer a poorly kept secret that the legendary Sidiki Camara from Mali lives in Oslo - he can be heard in a number of contexts from folk music and Karpe to jazz and underground disco, and last year he even won a Spellemann for the excellent album Return to the Traditions. Now he's celebrating 45 (!) years as a working musician with a big party performance at Riksscenen on Saturday - a kickass band, lots of guest artists and a virtuoso percussionist as the centerpiece of the party. It's bound to be good.

2. Big in France: 

Two artists who are turning France upside down at the moment are doing their first concerts in Norway during Oslo World: On Friday, Algerian TIF will come to Cosmopolite. This young prodigy has a very special connection with his audience. He raps and sings in French and Arabic and sells out huge stages in both Algeria and France – Cosmopolite is, with its capacity, an intimate stage for him. He will play there on Friday 1 November, the day the Algerian revolution is marked - it will be a very special evening. 

The following day, on the same stage, the stage is set for French-Cameroonian Yamê, who made waves last summer when he released the Colors Show performance of the single "Bécane". A large audience got to know his multi-faceted, poignant vocals and the eccentric and sometimes ridiculously catchy amalgam he has created of R&B, hip-hop, jazz and a voracious curiosity about everything from art and politics to completely personal themes. The ELOWI project he released in October 2023 shows the level of ambition - and now he meets a Norwegian audience for the first time.

3. The Next Big Thing:

Several of Oslo World's artists are on the verge of an even bigger pop breakthrough. On Wednesday, J Noa plays at Parkteatret. The rapper from the Dominican Republic has been building a cult status for a number of years, reaching a larger audience through a Tiny Desk concert last year, the same week she was nominated for her first Latin Grammy for the song "Autodidacta". Her hard-hitting mix of bachata, merengue tipico and dembow will soon reach an even bigger audience - all the more reason to get as close to this explosion as you do at Parkteateret. The following day on the same stage, the Jordanian-Palestinian singer-songwriter Zeyne plays, who in recent years has become one of the most central young artists on the SWANA region's pop scene.

If we move to MUNCH on Friday, you will experience a sensation in Latin music's queer environments that we present in collaboration with Oslo Pride and Skeiv Verden. Villano Antillano is a cheeky, playful and subversive artist who has turned the Spanish-speaking reggaeton and urbano movement on its head. She became the first trans artist to reach Spotify's Top 50: Global, and has a unique ability to set the dance floor on fire. After the concert, there will be a party at Baba Bar with DJ Dulce Doll – that’s going to be insane. 

The Bergen-based artist Gutu Abera has experienced a breakthrough on the Ethiopian music scene in recent years. The music combines modern, catchy Afropop with new production ideas, and also draws inspiration from Abera's roots in Oromian traditional music. Abera won the All Africa Music Awards for the single "Demi" last year, the debut album came out this year and now Oslo World is ready for one of the most sensational successes in Norwegian and Ethiopian music in recent years. And remember that you can buy a double ticket to Hailu Mergia here!

4. Why wait until Øyafestivalen? 

It's a long time until August anyway. Here are a couple of fantastic bands that we won’t be terribly surprised if we see in Tøyenparken one of the coming years: 

Soft rock sensation Infinity Song consists of African-American siblings Abraham, Angel, Israel and Momo Boyd. They play ridiculously catchy songs inspired by 70s groups such as Fifth Dimension, The Mamas and the Papas and ABBA - without ever being “just” a retro outfit. A feelgood experience, quite simply, which in 2016 signed for Jay-Z's record company Roc Nation. They made their debut in 2020 with the album Mad Love. They play at Parkteatret on wednesday. 

Stella & the Longos, who will performe at Parkteatret on Friday 1 November, are the band for those of you who were at Nu Genea a few years ago at Oslo World (or at Øya the year after), but also those of you who wish you were there. Stella Zekri and Ed Longo met in Berlin and bonded over a shared passion for sensual eighties zouk and boogie. The result is a groovy, danceable live phenomenon - check out the debut record Détends-Toi. Stella Zekri also DJs at our favourite local wine bar, Becco, that same evening. 

Turkish psych flirtation has a solid place on this year's program - Altin Gün, who have become regular Norwegian friends since they played here for the first time during Oslo World a few years ago, is coming back and playing at Sentrum Scene. On Wednesday at Blå we can experience the Danish band AySay, who sing in Turkish, Kurdish and Danish, and who seamlessly combine acoustic and electronic impulses, a sense of adventure and pop flair in their music, most recently on their second album KÖY.

5. The Avant Garde Route:

There are many forms of experimentation on Oslo World's program this year - here are some possibilities for those of you who are keen to get off the beaten track. 

Italian Daniela Pes has created a language of her own, based on old Gallurese words, fragments of Italian words and completely made up stuff. They form the building blocks for the artist's vision: to deconstruct and break down song structures and language - a hugely ambitious musical life project with beautiful melodies, catchy hooks and multi-faceted, electronic productions. The double concert at Blå with Ana Lua Caiano on Saturday is really worth checking out. 

Read the band name Cimota backwards and you'll get an idea of ​​what it's all about: The rhythm section of the legendary jazz band Atomic forms the starting point for this brand new band, where they bring in the wind duo Streifenjunko. A playground for pianist Håvard Wiik's breakneck, sprawling compositions - and a quintet consisting of five musicians who have explored the outer limits of their instruments in different ways. Kafé Hærverk is the place on Tuesday - the café will be a small jazz festival within the festival this week, and also offers Master Oogway on Wednesday and a record release with the Adrian Myhr Trio on Thursday - while the club vibes are well represented by the Colombian DJ Bitter Babe, who comes on Friday night. It will be packed!

The band NaraBara melds Mongolian folk songs and modern jazz interspersed with instruments from North and West Africa. They met on concerts and nightclubs in Beijing. Check out the debut album Hamt Zamin Hümüs from 2023 and come to the National Jazz Stage on Friday!

Beirut-based artist Khansa offers a male, avant-garde look at belly dance traditions, combining performance art and electropop in his titillating, thought-provoking performances. He is part of the very strong program we are presenting in collaboration with Skeiv Verden and Oslo Pride at MUNCH this year, and will play a double concert with Bashar Murad on Saturday. 

Kin’Gongolo Kiniata comes from Kinshasa, the capital of the Congo and has created a kind of Afro-punk rhumba where they use percussion and string instruments they have made themselves from old plastic bottles, metal objects and other household items. Lots to be fascinated by and dance to when they come to Nasjonal Jazzscene on Thursday. 

Susanna marks twenty years as a recording artist this year with the album Meditations on Love - an uncompromising exploration of love in all forms, through infidelity, betrayal and breach of trust. The record is also very original produced - she has created a kind of organic music machine with woodwinds, experimental percussion and much more, and the music draws on everything from composer Harry Partch to Ethiopian soul. Join us for the launch concert at Parkteatret on Saturday!

6. The Festival Vibe:

Come to the live recording of Musikkreisen, at Byens Tak on Saturday. There you will meet festival artists - and tired festival workers! It is one of Oslo Worlds nicest traditions.  Another hot tip is the concert with Moonchild Sanelly around midnight on Saturday. There is something special about Blå during the Oslo World weekend - all of a sudden, everybody is there. 

Baba Bar became a favorite during last year's Oslo World, and this year the visionary queer club has moved to the old premises of Fisk og Vilt in Pløens gate, right by Youngstorget. It will of course be a flurry of activity all week - belly dance class with Khansa on Friday, after-party after Villano Antillano on Friday and Arab Burlesque Late Night Cabaret w/ Marko on Saturday - in addition to hanging out all week. The same can basically be said about the clubs at Jaeger, Hærverk and Blå, in addition to after-parties at Becco, The Villa, Andre til Høyre and Revolver. Oslo World is a lot about these things. 

The heart of Oslo World is Cosmopolite, it is where it all started. We've mentioned a number of highlights from there already, but we'll end with the last concert of the year, the quintet The Joy from South Africa, who will perform their frapped Zulu harmonies on Sunday - before there will be a very last party at Bruun Larsen.