Home » Jazz Articles » Karl-Martin Almqvist
Jazz Articles about Karl-Martin Almqvist
About Karl-Martin Almqvist
Instrument: Saxophone, tenor
Helge Albin: Homemade
by Fran Kursztejn
If the word “fussy" occasionally rears its head when relating the Helge Albin Quintet's newest release, it is not meant as a slight. Albin--an undeniable staple of the Swedish and wider North European jazz scene--is nothing if not insatiable. Before the quintet's founding, he led the impressive Tolvan Big Band, certainly Sweden's most ambitious musical project in recent memory, an 18-man ensemble almost entirely devoted to Albin's compositions. His record as a sideman is no less storied, working closely with ...
Continue ReadingMathias Landaeus: Path
by Troy Dostert
Pianist Mathias Landæus has been a notable presence in Swedish jazz for some time, with his debut leader release, Blåbete (Amigo Records) dating back to 1996. At times he displays rather adventurous tendencies, revealed keenly in a freewheeling trio with saxophonist Oliver Lake and drummer Kresten Osgood on 2023's Spirit (SFÄR), but he also possesses a winsome melodicism. It is the latter aspect that comes to the fore on Path, a winning effort with some of Landæus' regular partners, tenor ...
Continue ReadingMartin Sjöstedt & Stockholm Jazz Orchestra: Horizon
by Neil Duggan
The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra has been together since 1984--40 years at this writing. That is quite an achievement. especially in an age where large ensembles make little financial sense. In 1986, Bob Brookmeyer joined the band as a guest, eventually leading to his compositions featuring on their debut album, Dreams (Dragon, 1988). Subsequently, they have played with artists such as Maria Schneider and The Yellowjackets and undertaken numerous worldwide tours. Operating similarly to a jazz collective, all the ...
Continue ReadingDjango Bates: Tenacity
by Pat Youngspiel
Few jazz artists go to such great lengths to make their audience feel at the same time bewildered by humor-infused technical exhaustion and smitten by charm and sheer musical beauty as Django Bates does. The English pianist and composer has gained a reputation over the years, for bringing the quirkiest and widest range of ideas and styles to a, more or less, aesthetically-serious art form. Some might even claim he's the Frank Zappa of jazz. Then again, who's to say ...
Continue ReadingDjango Bates: Tenacity
by John Kelman
It's been a long time since that late May, 2013 week in Luleå, Sweden, where pianist Django Bates and his Belovèd Trio first collaborated with the renowned Norrbotten Big Band. Fully documented in the All About Jazz article Django Bates: From Zero to Sixty in Five Days, Bates, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun, along with other non-Norrbotteners, including guitarist Markus Pesonen, tubaist Daniel Herskedal and trombonist/vocalist Ashley Slater, made the lengthy trek to this small coastal town, located ...
Continue ReadingKarl-Martin Almqvist: Sweden's "Bear" Digs for Roots
by Chris Mosey
In his native Sweden they call big, bearded Karl-Martin Almqvist “The Bear." He's one the best of the current crop of jazz saxophonists there. Critics even make comparisons with Lars Gullin, the legendary reedman who gave Swedish jazz its own, highly distinctive voice. “I would love to be able to say Gullin was my first influence," Almqvist responds ruefully. “But actually, you know, it was Dexter Gordon. He was the first tenor player that really did it for me."
Continue ReadingKarl-Martin Almqvist: Mourning Dove
by Jack Bowers
Having written reviews for a number of years now, I am no longer surprised by the proficiency of musicians from overseas, many of whose names I’d never heard before our introduction via an album. A case in point is Sweden’s Karl–Martin Almqvist, as capable a post–bop tenor saxophonist as you’re likely to hear on either side of the Atlantic. As there are no liner notes, I don’t know if Almqvist picked up the tenor a few months ago or has ...
Continue Reading
