Trygve Seim (born 25 April 1971 in Oslo) is a Norwegian saxophonist and composer who has released over 20 albums for ECM Records as a leader, co-leader, or sideman. Inspired to pick up the saxophone at 14 after hearing Jan Garbarek's Eventyr, he studied at the Trondheim Conservatory and went on to build one of the most distinctive voices in European jazz. His debut as a leader, Different Rivers (2000), won the German Record Critics' Prize; subsequent albums such as Sangam, Rumi Songs, and Helsinki Songs confirmed his reputation for lyrical, meditative music that sits at the crossroads of jazz, Nordic folk, and chamber sensibility.
The Arcanum quartet performed at JazzBaltica 2026 in Timmendorfer Strand, with the concert broadcast on ZDF.
Arcanum, the debut ECM album by the quartet of Seim, Arve Henriksen, Anders Jormin, and Markku Ounaskari, was released on 2 May 2025 to five-star reviews from the BBC.
Seim released Our Time, a duo album with accordionist Frode Haltli, on ECM Records in September 2024.
The Arcanum quartet performed a live session at NDR's Rolf Liebermann Studio in Hamburg, broadcast on NDR Jazz.
