He was soon captured by the music of Charlie Parker, and this led him into Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Bill Evans and guitarists Joe Pass and Pat Martino.
At young age, he was also a promising operatic tenor, (studying with the internationally acclaimed Norwegian opera star Marit Isene) but chose to concentrate on the guitar as his career developed in that direction.
This position established Kjekstad as one of the top jazz guitar players in Norway, and made him grow a good reputation, leading to all kinds of other gigs.
This CD got great reviews in USA and Italy: “This young genius has a perfect sense of time and rhythm” (Frank Forte, Just Jazz Guitar 2001).
In 2008 Kjekstad recorded a trio album with Norwegian super bass player Per Mathisen and drummer Ole Morten Summer, that was never released, due to too much work, and financial problems.
In October 2019 Kjekstad recorded a new trio album in Norway, featuring Norwegian bass player Frode Berg and the drummer Magnus Sefaniassen Eide.