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Filip Augustson: Viva Black
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish double bassist Filip Augustson leads a reasonable personal life and career. He recorded his debut album as a leader about ten years ago, Ich Bin Filip Augustson (Moserobie, 2004) and has collaborated with vibes player Mattias Ståhl's Ståhls Blå, sax players Fredrik Ljungkvist and Fredrik Nordström and keyboard player Mats Öberg. Augustson is a happily married father of two small children, and lives in a nice middle-class neighborhood in the suburbs of Stockholm. Viva Black ...
read moreKlas Nevrin Ensemble: Live At Lederman
by Eyal Hareuveni
Swedish pianist and composer Klas Nevrin, known for his ongoing collaborations with reed player Fredrik Ljungkvist in Ljungkvist's bands Yun Kan 5 and Yun Kan 10 and in the Norwegian- Swedish quartet Honeyleap, suggests a new arresting sonic aesthetic in his new solo album. His compositions forge a middle path between the rock-inspired lineage of free jazz and the ultra- minimalist school of contemporary improvisation, without settling for any of these contrasting aesthetics. Furthermore, Nevrin applied alternative, non-Western micro-tonal intonation ...
read moreKvintetten Som Sprängdes: Svänger Så Det Svartnar
by Eyal Hareuveni
The sophomore release of Swedish quintet Kvintetten Som Sprängdes (The Quintet That Blew Up in English), after Järnet! (Found you Recordings, 2012) features a band with a mature, highly personal sound. The quintet's concise, articulate compositions by its founder, Gothenburg-based saxophonist Niklas Persson, stress dynamic and nuanced narratives, characterized by brief, surprisingly creative free improvisations and spontaneous confrontations. Persson's rich musical language flirts with diverse, seminal influences, beginning with Swedish sax hero Lars Gullin and continuing with the innovative extended ...
read moreThe Ägg: The Ägg
by Eyal Hareuveni
Put three electric guitarists, three electric bassists and four drummers in one room all coming from the vibrant Stockholm scene of free improvisation, free jazz and art rock. Let them jam freely, lock in hypnotic grooves that loosely sound like Fela Kuti's Afro-beat bands or worse, like North Korean marching bands on acid, sketch noisy textures that brings to mind Captain Beefheart & the Magik Band in its wildest psychedelic moments or the voluminous symphonies of Glenn Branca in its ...
read moreOpen Trio: Dinosaurs
by Eyal Hareuveni
The Swedish Open Trio, headed by pianist Joakim Simonsson, has operated since 2000. Its third release (after Colors and Goodbye Everything, 2003 and 2008, both on Found you Recordings, the label that Simonsson runs) refers ironically to its longevity but fortunately not to its fresh and creative output. The trio still stresses its lyrical and highly melodic strong foundations. The group plays with a natural ease, confidence and elegance. Though Simonsson is the leader and the ...
read moreEmil Strandberg: Works
by Eyal Hareuveni
Works is the first album containing compositions by Swedish trumpeter Emil Strandberg. But this is also a highly collaborative work. The set of subtle and nuanced compositions for a chamber, acoustic trio stress an intimate dialog between the three musicians. The musical expression is equal to sensitive listening and always examines its own formulation, its sound, its timbral qualities, and how it resounds. Strandberg collaborates here with two like-minded musicians--acoustic guitarist David Stackenäs with whom he plays ...
read moreEmil Strandberg / Sten Sandell / Patric Thorman: It Is Night And I Am Lost
by Eyal Hareuveni
The Swedish improvising trio of trumpeter Emil Strandberg, pianist Sten Sandell and bassist Patric Thorman has played together since 2006. Its first recording, Stockholm Sweden Polyphony (Found You Recording, 2009), signaled the many directions that these experienced and resourceful improvisers were beginning to explore. The trio kept performing while Strandberg and Thorman also collaborated with American cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm's quintet, Seval. The trio's sophomore recording features only the title piece, a 33-minute sonic journey into the unknown. ...
read moreKvintetten Som Sprängdes: Järnet!
by Eyal Hareuveni
Järnet!--the limited edition (300), vinyl-only debut of Gothenburg, Sweden-based Kvintetten Som Sprängdes (The Quintet That Blew Up)--features a unique musical language. Led by Niklas Persson, the saxophonist's compositions reference modern and free jazz heroes from both sides of the Atlantic--including saxophonist Ornette Coleman, reed multi-instrumentalists Eric Dolphy, Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker, and Swedish hero, saxophonist Lars Gullin--intertwined with a clear affinity for lyrical folk melodies and the strong individual voices of every member of this quintet. ...
read moreNina de Heney: Three
by Eyal Hareuveni
Three is the third solo double bass recording of by underrated Swedish double bassist Nina de Heney, known for her collaborations with pianists (and fellow countrymen) Sten Sandell and Lisa Ullén. The title refers also to the connection between de Heney, the player ("the dancer behind the bass," as she calls it), the intimate connection with the instrument (her “extended body"), and the room (a “vibrating and dancing entity, guiding the music"). On this double album, de ...
read moreTva For Tommy: Tva For Tommy
by Eyal Hareuveni
Behind the odd name Två För Tommy (Two for Tommy in Swedish) stand three of the best Swedish improvisers: reed player Fredrik Ljungkvist, a founding member of the acclaimed Norwegian-Swedish quintet Atomic; vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, who leads his own bands, Ståhls Blå and Ståhls Trio, and has collaborated with countless other outfits; and double bassist Patric Thorman, member of the Swedish-American quintet Seval. This trio's debut--a limited edition LP of only 350 copies--is a masterful exploration of chamber jazz.
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