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Jazz Articles about Fredrik Ljungkvist
About Fredrik Ljungkvist
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Scheen Jazzorkester & Fredrik Ljungkvist: Framat!
by Mark Corroto
Scandinavian large ensembles have much to teach their more conservative American counterparts about reinventing the jazz orchestra for the 21st century. Framåt! by Scheen Jazzorkester is a powerful affirmation of this idea. This Norwegian ensemble has consistently pushed the boundaries of large ensemble jazz, and Framåti--their tenth release since forming in 2010--is another compelling addition to their adventurous discography. Preceding this album were two Thomas Johansson-led projects, As We See It (2019) and Frameworks (2014), both released on ...
Continue ReadingAngles + Elle-Kari With Strings: The Death Of Kalypso
by Chris May
As a genre, jazz-opera is thinly populated. The recorded archive is marked more by quality than quantity, with albums by Mike Westbrook and Kate Westbrook, Carla Bley and Charlie Haden to the fore. But the best ever jazz-opera, in this parish anyway, predates anything by these musicians. Composer Todd Matshikiza and lyricist Pat Williams' King Kong premiered in the Great Hall of the University of Johannesburg in February 1959 to rapturous reviews, and went on to romp through sold-out proscenium-arch ...
Continue ReadingFredrik Ljungkvist - Kris Davis - Ole Morten Vågan - Øyvind Skarbø: Inland Empire
by Glenn Astarita
Rising star American pianist Kris Davis aligns with A-list Scandinavian progressive jazz artists for a semi-structured program that, among numerous positives, highlights the ensemble's persuasive interactions amid a capacious soundstage, spanning sublime progressions, angular unison choruses and geometrical paradigm shifts. But the musicians unrelenting creativity and thoughtful improvisations spark a winning formula not always easily attainable in these unions, where spontaneous breakouts and plot redevelopments yield significant rewards. “Truffle Pigs and Katmandu Stray Dogs" is a prime ...
Continue ReadingMattias Risberg's Mining: Zauberberg
by Karl Ackermann
The Swedish pianist Mattias Risberg has teamed up with a range of well-known northern European born or based improvisers, including saxophonist Fredrik Ljungkvist and vocalist Jennie Abrahamson. He remains largely unknown in the U.S. but garnered well-deserved attention for And Now the Queen--A Tribute to Carla Bley (Lilalo records, 2016), a duo recording with Ljungkvist. Risberg lives between two musical worlds as a post-modern composer with an affinity for (relatively) old-world instruments. His inspirations are no less diverse: he cites ...
Continue ReadingLina Nyberg: The Clouds
by Troy Dostert
In a career spanning almost three decades--her first release, Close (Prophone), with Esbjörn Svensson, dates from 1993-- vocalist, composer and arranger Lina Nyberg has worked with many of the finest musicians in the Swedish jazz scene to create a truly formidable body of work. Nineteen albums later, her creativity shows no signs of abating. In fact, with The Clouds, a project featuring a tentet of first-rank colleagues, Nyberg is poised to reinforce her place at the vanguard of chance-taking European ...
Continue ReadingFredrik Ljungkvist & Mattias Risberg: And Now the Queen - A Tribute to Carla Bley
by Karl Ackermann
Carla Bley's compositions have been recorded by a seemingly endless list of artists including Jaco Pastorius, Arturo O'Farrill, Eberhard Weber, Jan Garbarek, Jimmy Giuffre and extensively by her former husband, the late Paul Bley. She has been revolutionary in the scope of her work which has run from the jazz opera Escalator Over the Hill (JCOA Records, 1971) to the politically influenced Liberation Music Orchestra led by Charlie Haden. With the earlier release of Andando el Tiempo (ECM, 2016) with ...
Continue ReadingFredrik Ljungkvist / Yun Kan 10: Ten
by Eyal Hareuveni
Acclaimed Swedish reed player Fredrik Ljungkvist's key solo outfit is the Yun Kan band. This band, in its incarnation as a quintet, released two remarkable albums, Yun Kan 12345 and Badaling (Caprice, 2004 and 2007) and in recent years operated in a slimmed down version as Yun Kan 3 and as an ambitious outgrowth of the quintet as Yun Kan 10. Now, finally, more than five years after its last documentation, this ensemble has been beautifully recorded by Swedish Radio. ...
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