Jazz Articles about Thomas Strønen

About Thomas Strønen

Album Review

Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Morgan, Thomas Strønen: Windflower

Read "Windflower" reviewed by Frank Housh

by Frank Housh
August 17, 2026

Ayumi Tanaka's Windflower uses Nordic jazz's musical vocabulary against an ancient Japanese landscape, creating depth and beauty by the space left empty. Tanaka is a Japanese pianist and composer for whom Norwegian jazz feels “very personal," explaining how it “made the air feel alive." She was determined to figure out how. She moved to Norway in 2011 and earned a master's degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo. She augmented her studies by improvising “together with the ...

Album Review

Ayumi Tanaka, Thomas Morgan, Thomas Strønen: Windflower

Read "Windflower" reviewed by Neil Duggan

by Neil Duggan
August 6, 2026

Japanese pianist and composer Ayumi Tanaka has become a distinctive voice on the Scandinavian jazz scene since settling in Oslo. A graduate of the Norwegian Academy of Music, she has forged musical relationships with Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen and American bassist Thomas Morgan, whose intuitive rapport lies at the heart of Windflower. Following early performances at Oslo's Victoria, Nasjonal Jazzscene, the trio attracted the attention of ECM producer Manfred Eicher, leading to this debut recording. The album follows on ...

Inside the Songs

Thomas Strønen Time Is A Blind Guide: Off Stillness

by Dean Nardi
April 8, 2026

During his Time Is A Blind Guide reunion with keyboardist Ayumi Tanaka, cellist Leo Svensson Sander (replacing Lucy Railton), violinist Håkon Aase and double-bassist Ole Morten Vågan on Off Stillness (ECM Records, 2025), Norwegian drummer Thomas Strønen lands in a peculiar, improvised pocket. Brushed rhythms, unusual violin counterpoints, verbose bass, pizzicato cello and fractured piano arpeggios lend this taut yet spontaneous brightness to “Memories of Paul," a driftless song powered by the quintet's alluring, polyrhythmic impulses. It is dedicated to not ...

Radio & Podcasts

Thomas Strønen, Tortoise, Britta Virves, Seb Rochford, Dishwasher_, Beiggja

by Ludovico Granvassu
February 13, 2026

This episode--bookended by drummers who are also adventurous composers and bandleaders--explores the evolving landscape of contemporary jazz. The playlist unfolds as a sonic journey, moving seamlessly from introspection to collective energy and reflecting the dynamic, genre-defying nature of today's scene. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 Sebastian Rochford “ComMUnity" Finding Ways (Edition) 0:16 Host talks 3:16 Tortoise “Oganesson" Touch (Nonesuch/International Anthem) 4:32 Host talks 7:44 Dishwasher_ “Aisling" ...

Album Review

Timo Vollbrecht: Bremen New York

Read "Bremen New York" reviewed by Vincenzo Roggero

by Vincenzo Roggero
November 27, 2025

Per il suo ultimo lavoro il sassofonista e compositore di origine tedesca Timo Vollbrecht allestisce un quintetto da sogno, registra alla leggendaria Sendesaal di Brema e intitola il disco Bremen/New York, ideale ponte tra la patria d'origine e la patria d'adozione. Per qualità del suono, cura dei dettagli e impianto complessivo Bremen/New York potrebbe essere un classico disco ECM (non a caso Vollbrecht sta lavorando ad un libro su Manfred Eicher, fondatore della storica etichetta tedesca). La musica fluisce ...

Album Review

John Surman: Words Unspoken

Read "Words Unspoken" reviewed by Mario Calvitti

by Mario Calvitti
April 8, 2024

Giunto alla soglia degli 80 anni, che compirà in Agosto, e con alle spalle oltre mezzo secolo di attività professionale che ha prodotto una discografia imponente e importante sia in termini di quantità che di qualità, il sassofonista britannico John Surman aggiunge un'altra gemma luminosa al ricco catalogo delle sue opere, in gran parte documentato sulla etichetta tedesca ECM Records. Non si tratta dell'atteso disco in duo con il pianista norvegese Vigleik Storaas, annunciato durante il loro tour europeo della ...

Album Review

John Surman: Words Unspoken

Read "Words Unspoken" reviewed by Joshua Weiner

by Joshua Weiner
February 16, 2024

Englishman John Surman has been one of jazz's most important reedmen since his debut album on the progressive Deram label in 1969. From the start, on classic albums such as John McLaughlin's Extrapolation, Surman displayed a unique voice on the baritone sax, soprano sax, and bass clarinet, sometimes adding electronics to the mix. Since his first appearance on Manfred Eicher's groundbreaking ECM label in 1976, Surman has forged an idiosyncratic path, releasing solo, duo, and quartet albums, transcultural collaborations (such ...