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Bengt Berger / Jonas Knutsson / Christian Spering / Max Schultz: Blue Blue
by Eyal Hareuveni
The Swedish trio of drummer Bengt Berger, saxophonist Jonas Knutsson and bassist Christian Spering has been working for 19 years, often hosting different musicians-friends. This versatile trio aesthetics blended natural elements of modern jazz with East-Asian and West-African rhythms and Swedish folk music. The trio was voted as the Swedish jazz group of the year more than ten times, but only recently decided to expand its format to a quartet, adding jazz guitarist Max Schultz, a favorite guest musician of ...
read moreBengt Berger: Beches Brew BIG + BAG
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish master drummer and bandleader Bengt Berger calls his own label Country & Eastern, a title that suggests a fresh mix of new modes of expression and impulses from some of the great musical traditions of the world. Berger claims that this label provides the best Al Dente music, and when it comes to his nine-piece Beches Brew BIG, an obvious reference to Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Columbia, 1970), he is absolutely right. The Beches Brew ...
read moreEllika Frisell /Solo Cissokho / Rafael Sida: Now
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish folk violinist Ellika Frisell and singer and kora player Solo Cissokho, a griot from Senegal, have been playing together for over fifteen years now, finding common ground between the solitary Scandinavian fiddle and West-African kora playing. The two released two albums as a duo, Tretkat Takissaba and Abaraka Tack (Xource, 2002 and 2005) and received the BBC World Music Award. Now adds to this celebrated duo drummer and percussionist Rafael Sida, originally from Mexico, a close collaborator Ale Möler, ...
read moreLena Willemark / Jonas Knutsson / Mats Oberg: Alla Drommars Sang
by Eyal Hareuveni
Alla Drömmars Sång (Song of Dreams) is the debut of three resourceful and versatile Swedish master musicians who bridge the Swedish rich folk music with jazz and world music sensibilities. All three musicians worked with Swedish mufti-instrumentalist and world music pioneer Ale Möller, who wrote the liner notes for this album. Vocalist Lena Willmark led with him on the Nordan Project (Nordan, Agram ECM, 1994 and 1996) and Frifot. Trio.; Saxophonist Jonas Knutsson played on the Nordan projects albums and ...
read moreHaci Tekbilek: Turlu
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The intricate matrix that is the music of Turkey is aglow with the influences of the country's Ottoman peoples; the Romani; the folk tradition of the aboriginal peoples of that region; the Sufi music of the Mevlevis and the Derwishes; and an interesting meld of Mediterranean, Greek, Balkan. Judging by the fine music on Türlü, something eerily similar to Irish music can also be heard, as well as a Swedish Stjul. Truth be told, however, the brooding, hypnotic music of ...
read moreBengt Berger: Beches Brew
by Raul d'Gama Rose
There is vorticist movement in percussion colorist Bengt Berger's music. Like a whirling fluid mass slingshot around the world--although anchored in the broad folks forms of Swedish music--it sucks in the dancing and chanting, moaning and prancing rhythmic Hindustani and Carnatic music of India and West Africa, especially that of Ghana. And it is all here on Beches Brew, one of the most spectacular records to come out of Europe in 2009. The music is sophisticated and lurid, downright earthy ...
read moreJonas Knutsson/Mats Oberg: Live
by Raul d'Gama Rose
An alluring aspect of this record, even before the first notes are heard is that it is simply titled Live. Expectation is enormous. It is a “live" record. What will happen? The elasticity of the jazz idiom fills the musical prospect with great expectation. Finally, performing on this record are the magnificent Swedish saxophonist, Jonas Knutsson and pianist, Mats Oberg an artist of prodigious talent, who played on Zappa's Universe (Verve, 1991), conducted by Joel Thome and scores of sadly ...
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