Alf Kjellman
Alf Erling Kjellman (17 January 1938 – 14 September 2010) was a Norwegian jazz saxophonist, composer and band leader. He played tenor, baritone and alto saxophones. He was born in Tromsø, Norway.
In Tromsø he led a revue orchestra (1955–56) and played with the Swinging Quartet (1956–57) and the Sverre Lund Quartet (1958–59). He also wrote arrangements for the local jazz club orchestra (1958–59).
In 1959 he moved to Oslo and joined the city’s jazz scene. He worked with Kjell Karlsen (1959) and with Ditlef Eckhoff at the first Moldejazz in 1961. He contributed to film music for the movie Line (1961) with a group of players including Atle Hammer and Frode Thingnæs.
During the 1960s and 1970s Kjellman contributed to the Club 7 scene, recording with Arild Wikstrøm and playing with the blues band Sapphires.
In 1975 he moved to Molde and played on the album Østerdalsmusikk. He then moved to Bodø in 1976 and worked with Kjell Bartholsen. He returned to Oslo and played with Ola Calmeyer (1977–79).
He contributed to albums by Søyr (2000) and appeared on Nordnorsk jazzforums Distant Reports (Gemini Records, 2001) with Ola Calmeyer.
Kjellman led The Alf Kjellman Project and released the album You’ll Always Need Friends (Gemini Records, 1998). The group featured Frode Nymo (sax), Harald Johnsen (bass), Inge Stangvik (vocals), Jørn Øien (piano), Kevin Dean and Ole Jacob Hansen (drums). Kjellman was composer, conductor and band leader.
He did not release a solo saxophone album until 1999, when Øystein B. Blix started the Reflect label and released June 1999, a radio recording with Kjellman from NRK during the 1999 Festspillene i Nord-Norge. This also marked Kjellman’s 70th birthday celebration.
In 2011, Henning Gravrok composed Fire variasjoner over Alf Kjellmans gode råd, performed by Nordnorsk Storband with Tomasz Stanko.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 08:29 (CET).