Jazz Articles about Jonas Kullhammar

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Jonas Kullhammar Quartet: The Half Naked Truth 1998-2008

by Mark Corroto
April 10, 2009

Sometimes self indulgence is worth it. It is not decadence or overt extravagance for the Jonas Kullhammar Quartet to release an eight-CD boxset on the tenth anniversary of their association. In fact, the success of The Half Naked Truth 1998-2008 could result in inquiries into the remainder of the 40 hours of live recordings and session out-takes that were passed over to make up this collection of 66 songs.The music is that good.In ten years this ...

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Jonas Kullhammar: Son of a Drummer

by Clifford Allen
July 28, 2006

Over the past several years, jazz fans have been quite lucky to hear a significant amount of new work from Scandinavian improvisers. However, most of the Scandinavian improvisers who have cracked the international jazz scene are committed to free improvisation. Those who embrace more traditional roots, while still dedicated to pushing at the boundaries of those roots, are not mentioned in the same breath as Mats Gustafsson or his compatriots. Swedish tenor man Jonas Kullhammar is one of a small ...

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Jonas Kullhammar: Snake City North

by Michael McCaw
November 23, 2005

There is nothing quite like the muscular sound of a big band that is busting at the seams with energy while disposing of the all-too-common brassy clichés of big band recordings. Fronted by tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar and his quartet with pianist Torbjörn Gulz, acoustic bassist Torbjörn Zetterberg, and drummer Jonas Holgersson, the Norrbotten Big Band provides top-notch music filled with fire and soul, not far removed from the Mingus Big Band in its vitality and richness.Snake City ...

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Jonas Kullhammar Quartet/Norrbotten Big Band: Snake City North

by Jack Bowers
July 27, 2005

It's been a while since we've heard from Sweden's intrepid Norrbotten Big Band from up near the Arctic Circle. On that last occasion (Future North, Double-Time, 1998), the NBB was led by American trumpeter Tim Hagans; this time, it is in the company of Swedish tenor saxophonist Jonas Kullhammar's impressive quartet.

The quartet-within-a-band format is a provocative idea that works quite well, as it did a decade earlier for a similar group, The Real Thing, with Sweden's Bohuslän Big Band ...

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Jonas Kullhammar: Snake City North

by Clifford Allen
May 26, 2005

Where American jazz culture left off, Europe appears to have picked up some of the slack in a longstanding tradition of big bands. Though they're not always more economically viable on the other side of the pond, their mark on post-bebop jazz has nevertheless been undeniable. In addition to the freer organizations like Globe Unity, the London Jazz Composers' Orchestra, ICP, and the Willem Breuker Kollektif are the kaleidoscopic if slightly more “traditional" outfits of John Dankworth, Ronnie Scott, Tubby ...

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Jonas Kullhammar: Plays Loud for the People

by Ty Cumbie
July 5, 2004

Jonas Kullhammar has a cool name. Its implications in English also make it somewhat appropriate sounding: this young sax virtuoso has a big sound, like a cool hammer. The new CD from his excellent quartet also looks goofily cool, with a youthful-looking painting that makes Kullhammar out to be far more gangly than he actually looks to be in photos. Then there’s the title, with its jokey frankness. But the music contained herein is no kids’ stuff.

Europeans, as I ...

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Jonas Kullhammar/Goran Kajfes/Johan Berthling/Kjell Nordeson: Nacka Forum

by Farrell Lowe
March 20, 2003

While a far cry from recent work by Norah Jones, this recording was nominated for a Swedish Grammy, which sheds some light on the differences between American and Swedish tastes. By now most folks know the sweet pop-inflected jazz style of Jones, but probably most have little knowledge of one of her Swedish counterparts.

Nacka Forum is a moderately raw recording that features a quartet composed of sax, trumpet, bass, and drums. The most distinctive aspect of ...