Jazz Articles
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Vidya: The Papillon
by Kyle Simpler
Songwriting often provides a sense of exploration and self-discovery which is not as present in other art forms. We can easily express our thoughts with words but something extraordinary happens when we add music to the mix as well, and that is certainly the case with Swedish pianist and composer Vidya Liselotte-Sundberg. Her album The Papillon gave her an opportunity to examine and come to understand some of her most profound and heartbreaking experiences. Vidya grew up surrounded ...
read moreORD: Hemligheter på vägen
by Troy Dostert
Drawing inspiration from Tomas Tranströmer, one of the giants of Scandinavian poetry, Swedish pianist Karin Johansson and her quintet ORD have forged a memorable and distinctive musical document. Named after one of Tranströmer's poems, Hemligheter på Vägen ("Secrets on the Way") sketches an evocative, often mysterious, but eminently engaging sound portrait that is as elusive as it is absorbing. Tranströmer has been feted by jazz musicians beforeperhaps most notably by Jan Garbarek on It's OK to Listen to ...
read moreWe Float: Silence
by Eyal Hareuveni
Silence, the debut album from the Norwegian-Swedish, Malmö-based quartet We Float, offers well-crafted, dreamy and intimate jazz songs with a pop sensibility, characterized by a hypnotic, infectious pulse. This kind of aesthetic may sound to some as treading in the sonic territory of the Swedish-Danish trio Nuaia, but this first impression is deceiving --there is more from this fine group in Silence. We Float, whose name is inspired by PJ Harvey song (taken from Harvey's White Chalk album, ...
read moreDaniel Ögren: Brev till Kristinehamn
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish guitarist Daniel Ögren continues to offer sonic tributes to the landscapes of Sweden. In his past releases-- Laponia (Hoob, 2011) and Laponia II (Havtorn, 2013)--Ögren, known as a guitarist in singer-songwriter and organist Anna von Hauswolff's band, focused on the scenery of northern Sweden. Brev till Kristinehamn (letter to Kristinehamm} is dedicated to his home town, a railroad and road center situated by the shores of lake Vänern and exactly 250 km away from Stockholm, Gothenburg and Oslo.
read moreRasmus Nyvall Kvintett: Bangård
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish, Malmö-based saxophonist Rasmus Nyvall plays in local young jazz bands Makross, {Det är inte så lätt, Havtorn, 2012), and SaliBambra. But on his solo debut, Bangård (Rail yard in Swedish}, he wanted to expose the artistic freedoms of jazz bands to a wider audience. Nyvall wrote lyrics in Swedish to eight songs for a quintet, the core of this project, all delivered by the warm and beautiful voice of Linda Bergström, and added four movements for a wind quartet. ...
read moreSjøen: Live I
by Eyal Hareuveni
Sjøen (sea in Norwegian) is a new, Norwegian-Swedish quintet with a debut that was recorded during their first-ever concert, at the Energimølla club in Kongsberg, Norway, in April 2013. Obviously, it would not have been possible without the promising, young musicians that band leader and violinist Håkon Aase gathered. Each of them also play in other young bands that released debut albums within the last year. Saxophonist Harald Lassen plays in modern jazz bands Mopti and Pixel, pianist John Lindvall ...
read moreDaniel Ogren: Laponia II
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish guitarist Daniel Ögren's second musical tribute to the landscapes of Northern Sweden (after Laponia, Hoob, 2011) is a fascinating and suggestive journey. Ögren, member of singer- songwriter Anna von Hausswolff's band, succeeds to create a musical equivalent to the scenery of bare mountains, the sound of clear streams and moss-green hills into insightful and nuanced soundscapes that trigger the imagination. If mountains could sing, most likely Ögren would be their musical ally. As on the ...
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