b. 20 March 1943, Oslo, Norway. Christensen won the Norwegian Jazz Amateur Competition at the age of 17 and soon became the regular drummer behind visiting American musicians. For the last two decades he has pursued two concurrent musical careers. On the international jazz festival circuit he has played with artists as varied as Dexter Gordon, Gary Burton, Sonny Rollins, Terje Rypdal and Stan Getz. However, perhaps more importantly, he has become the central drummer in the impressionist European style characterized by the ECM Records label, drumming for Keith Jarrett’s European Quartet, Eberhard Weber’s Colours, and Jan Garbarek’s Quartet. Voted number 1 drummer by the Polish magazine Jazz Forum from 1973-84, Christensen remains one of the most versatile jazz drummers around.