Rasmus Nyvall Kvintett: Bangård

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.

The quintet's songs feature the melodic, round tone of Nyvall's sax and the playful support of pianist Fanny Gunnarsson's double bassist Mattias Hjort, and drummer Kristoffer Rostedt. As this set of songs and instrumentals progresses, the quintet dares more and more to leave its reserved, lyrical form of delivery and to improvise freely on loose themes, as on the intense "Åter Igen," and "Kontrast." The quintet concludes with the touching "Allvar," forming an immediate and intimate atmosphere with Bergström's soulful voice.

The wind quartet offers short but highly nuanced chamber pieces, all aiming to find the delicate and balanced, again lyrical, sound of Nyvall's clarinet with a trumpet, French horn, and bass clarinet. These arresting, fragile movements highlight Nyvall's thoughtful and sensitive compositional skills and have a potential to be developed as a full-blown independent project.

Nyvall is a gifted composer and musician. His debut promises that there is more to expect from him.