WIBUTEE:
NEWBORN THING
1999

In 1997 five jazz students — Håkon Kornstad, Wetle Holte, Per Zanussi, Erlend Skomsvoll, and Live Maria Roggen — formed a band that drew as much inspiration from DJ culture and the trip hop scene as from the jazz tradition they were studying. Massive Attack, Björk, and artists from the British label Ninja Tune were as natural references as the jazz canon. The name Wibutee was taken from a tin can found on a shelf at the Trondheim pub Krambua.

Wibutee played their first major concert at Nattjazz in Bergen in 1997 and quickly established themselves with their fusion of trip hop and jazz. Loops, beats, and samples were merged with melodic improvisation. The quintet toured both in Norway and internationally, and were soon regarded as a leading force on the emerging young Norwegian jazz scene in the late nineties, around the Oslo club Blå.

The debut album Newborn Thing was recorded over a few December days in 1998 at Bugge Wesseltoft’s studio by the Akerselva river, and released the following year on the newly established Jazzland Recordings. That same year, Wibutee held their release concert at Blå. Over time, the album has come to be regarded as a classic of Norwegian jazz, continuing to reach new listeners and audiences even today.

26 YEARS AFTER: VINYL AND CONCERTS

Newborn Thing has finally been remastered for vinyl, and will be released by Jazzland Recordings in May 2026, with an updated sleeve design.

Also, the original quintet will reunite to perform the music from Newborn Thing live. This time, with the added depth, experience, and the artistic maturity gained over a couple of decades by all of the members.