The pandemic obviously changed a lot of things but I’ve had no problem staying inspired during this challenging time. I’ve continued to upgrade my sound system, which is now on a new level and I’ve been listening to a lot of music at home. It’s been quite a mix and way too much to mention here. Instead, I thought I’d mention some of the records that I’ve bought during this period:

Lennart Åberg – Partial Solar Eclipse
Pål Thowsen/Jon Christensen – No Time For Time
Idris Muhammad – Power of Soul
Peter Brötzmann/Milford Graves/William Parker – Historic Music Past Tense Future
Bill Frisell – Nashville, Music Is
Gary Burton – Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra
Ralph Towner – My Foolish Heart
Marc Johnson – Overpass
Keith Jarrett – Budapest Concert
Marshall Allen/Roscoe Mitchell/Milford Graves/Scott Robinson – Flow States
Leandre/Maneri/Cleaver – Light and Dance
Don Cherry – The Summer House Sessions, Organic Music Theater Festival de Chateauvallon 1972
Marc Ribot – Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus
Chris Lightcap – SuperBigMouth
Fela Kuti – Live with Ginger Baker
David Virelles – Nuna, Gnosis
Michael Formanek – Other Zones
Freddie Hubbard – Skydive
Gil Evans – Svengali, Blues in Orbit
Hermeto Pasqoal – Slaves Mass
Mark Helias – Split Image
Prokofiev – Concertos (Warner)
Ravel – Complete Orchestral Works (Deutsche Grammophone)
Milton Nascimento – Angelus
Elis Regina & Toots Thielemans – Elis & Toots
Steely Dan – The Royal Scam, Katy Lied, Prezel Logic

I’ve also attended some concerts:

Broken Shadows @ Handelsbeurs, Ghent, Belgium on February 5th, 2020
Anders Kjellberg Group @ Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg on September 29th, 2021 Flat Earth Society @ Inkonst, Malmö on November 22nd, 2021
Vera/Ploug/Badenhorst @ Malmö Live on March 14th, 2022
Anouar Brahem Quartet @ Ystads Teater on August 5th, 2022
London Philharmonia & Víkingur Ólafsson conducted by Santu-Matias Rouvali (Clyne: Masquerade / Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? / Mahler: Symphony #5) @ Royal Festival Hall, London, UK on September 22nd, 2022
Brandon Lopez/Tom Rainey/Ingrid Laubrock @ Rehab Kultur, Malmö on September 29th, 2022
Eivind Aarset Quartet @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on October 20th, 2022
David Virelles @ Coffey Street Studio, Brooklyn, USA on November 9th, 2022
La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra & Alexandra Dariescu conducted by Alain Altinoglu (Reyer: Ouverure “Sigurd” / Franck: Variations symphoniques, for piano and orchestra / Berloiz: Symphonie fantastique) @ Bozar, Brussels, Belgium on December 30th, 2022

I also purchased “Full Mantis” and “Motian in Motion”, documentaries about Milford Graves and Paul Motian, who have both been inspirational to me. And I’ve been reading “Free Play” by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

As mentioned in “Inspiration #13”, I’ve been enjoying different podcasts and during the pandemic I also discovered “Pablo Held Investigates” and “Dr. Jazz Talks”. I’ve enjoyed a lot of the interviews presented there as well as watching a lot of other documentaries/interviews online about drumming, various kinds of music, conducting, HiFi, and so on…

My first post in a LONG time. A lot has happened since my last one with the pandemic obviously affecting everyone’s lives one way or another. In my case, it didn’t change my everyday life that much. Having two small children and my job at Malmö Academy of Music to take care of, I pretty much managed to stick to my routines and could keep working although under different circumstances at times. Even with very few gigs during this time, it’s been an intense period and trying to stay on top of things have definitely been enough, even without freelancing very much.

I’m hardly performing at all right now but I have been getting back into practicing a bit more and a bit more regularly. I’m quite happy about that, consistency makes such a big difference! I’ve gotten together with percussionist/drummer Lennart Gruvstedt on a few occasions in order to ask him some specific questions regarding technique and sound which has been very rewarding and inspiring. Those are some of the topics I’m spending time on at the moment. At the drum set, I also know quite well what I want to develop and in what direction I want to go and I’m feeling inspired and focused. Things will pick up when it comes to getting back into playing with and for people. In the meantime, I spend whatever time I can to continue studying and developing on my own.

As part of my job at Malmö Academy of Music, there are two projects that I’m working on this year. I’m putting together a book of exercises with the working name “Drum Set Warm Ups”. This book will consist of exercises that I originally created for myself but that I’ve continued to develop and will introduce to students in this format. More on this in a later post.
Together with a few colleagues, I’m also part of a project where we’re each writing a chapter about our thoughts on practicing. The timing for this project turned out to be perfect for me because I’ve been thinking a lot about practicing, development and where to put your focus while getting back into more of a practice routine myself.

This spring, I’ll again be working at Malmö Stadsteater where we will be performing “Monicas Vals” for a third and final run.

As mentioned in my post “Update December 2019”, I haven’t had much time to myself lately. I haven’t been to any concerts in quite a while and there hasn’t been much time to seriously listen to music at home either.

I have however upgraded my sound system by getting a new amplifier, floorstanding speakers and better cables so it’s been inspiring to play records at home anyway with improved sound, even when I can’t really focus on the music.

Trying my new set up out and experimenting with the positioning of my new speakers, I’ve been listening to albums that I know quite well. Using those as a reference has helped me in comparing different options.

The “downside” of having a better system is that the difference between a good sounding recording and a less good one becomes more clear. Using some albums that I consider to be good sounding as references has reminded me of that aspect and makes me appreciate that part of the production process even more. Some of the CD’s that I’ve been listening to are:

Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet: Wisława (ECM)
John Scofield: Grace Under Pressure (Blue Note)
Bobo Stenson Trio: War Orphans (ECM)
Peter Erskine Trio: As It Is / Time Being / You Never Know (ECM)
Miles Davis: Bitches Brew from “The Complete Bitches Brew Sessions” (Columbia/Legacy)
Jacob Young: Evening Falls (ECM)
Joni Mitchell: Travelogue (Nonesuch)

The last concert I saw was Ralph Towner playing solo guitar at Jazzhus Montmartre, Copenhagen on May 3^rd, 2019. That was something truly special and an evening I will never forget.

There has been some changes in my life this year. Our daughter was born in August so I now have two children and I also have a new (fixed) position at Malmö Academy of Music, where I’ve become head of the Jazz performance programme.

This changes my everyday life quite a bit. Having two small children and much more of a day to day routine definitely limits how much time I can spend with my instrument and with music in general. It also limits my flexibility when it comes to traveling and freelancing. On top of that, none of the bands that I’m in are very active right now so I’m not playing very much at the moment.

By now, I’m slowly getting back into a practise routine and am trying to figure out how to balance everything. Being limited with time really makes you think about what you want to be able to do in 30 minutes/1hour/a day/a week!

When it comes to making music, I would like to play more than now but things are the way they are. At the same time, I feel that I’m changing as a person and that also effects my view on music. I once heard someone mention the difference between drum chops and music chops and right now, that makes a lot of sense to me. I have been in better form as a drummer but I think that I’m a better musician than ever. Things change…

I haven’t had much time to listen to music or go to concerts during the past six months but one thing that I have been doing is listening to some podcasts and I’ve been enjoying these:

A Noise From the Deep https://greenleafmusic.com/podcasts/
Music Magic with Chick Corea http://chickcorea.com/podcast/#.XBHlPzt4VZg
The NYU Jazz Interview Series Podcast https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/music/jazz/interviews

I’ve also read Gary Burton’s book “Learning to Listen” and I did get to see Bobo Stenson play solo piano at Malmö Live on January 14^th, 2019.

I became a father on February 2nd which has been fantastic. Since then, my life is different and there hasn’t been a lot of time to myself. Therefore, I haven’t been to as many concerts or listened as much to music as I used to. However, I have been to a few concerts during the last six months:

Chick Corea solo @ Kulturværftet, Helsingør, Denmark on April 30^th, 2018
John Scofield/Gerald Clayton/Vincente Archer/Bill Stewart @ Palladium, Malmö on May 11^th, 2018
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Payare (Mahler: Symphony #3) @ Malmö Live on May 19^th, 2018

And some albums I’ve enjoyed listening to are:

Thommy Andersson – Wood Spine (Gateway)
Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth – Deluxe (Clean Feed)
Ben Perowsky – Camp Songs (Tzadik)
Nels Cline – Currents, Constellations (Blue Note)

This fall, I will be working at Malmö Stadsteater for three months. They are producing a play about the legendary Swedish vocalist Monica Zetterlund called ”Monicas vals” which will be premiered on September 21^st. There will be a lot of music in it and Benjamin Koppel, who will be the musical director, has put together a nice quartet which will be on stage during the whole performance. I’ve always enjoyed Zetterlunds way of singing and a lot of the music and the scene that she was a part of during the 60′s and 70′s so I’m looking forward to being a part of this production. The play will be performed until November 1st.

Some concerts that I’ve enjoyed lately are:

Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Robert Trevino (Mahler: Symphony #7) @ Malmö Live on September 28th, 2017
Napoleon Murphy Brock & Mats Öberg @ Folk å Rock, Malmö on November 5th, 2017
Cecilia Persson solo @ Palladium, Malmö on November 14th, 2017
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on November 26th, 2017
City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra & Martin Helmchen conducted by Alexander Vedernikov (Brahms: Piano Concerto #2 / Prokofiev: Cinderella) @ ICC, Birmingham, UK on December 7th, 2017
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Soustrot (Fauré: Pelléas et Mélisande suite / Strauss: Alpine Symphony) @ Malmö Live on January 25th, 2018
Sten Sandell solo @ Palladium, Malmö on February 21st, 2018

I also read “Lee Konitz – Conversations on the Improviser’s Art” by Andy Hamilton and I saw Alan Roth’s movie “The Breath Courses Through Us – a documentary movie about the New York Art Quartet”

And some albums that I’ve been into are:

Wayne Shorter – North Sea Jazz Legendary Concerts (Bob City)
Mark Helias Open Loose – The Signal Maker (Intakt)
Morgan Ågren – Batterie Deluxe (MondoTunes)

I haven’t been to very many performances lately but a few ones that I’ve enjoyed are:

Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth @ Copenhagen Jazzhouse on March 24th, 2017
Brad Mehldau Trio @ Palladium, Malmö on May 10th, 2017
Bill Frisell Trio @ Copenhagen Jazz Festival on July 12th, 2017
Paul Auster interviewed by Aris Fioretos @ Malmö City Library on August 28th, 2017

Some records I’ve been into lately are:

Craig Taborn: Daylight Ghosts (ECM)
Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet: December Avenue (ECM)
Miles Davis: Freedom Jazz Dance – The Bootleg Series Vol.5 (Columbia/Legacy)
Joni Mitchell: Shadows & Light (Asylum)
Carla Bley/Paul Haines: Escalator Over The Hill (JCOA)
Astor Piazzola: Nuestro Tiempo / Tango para una Ciudad (Columbia)
Kronos Quartet & Astor Piazzola: Five Tango Sensations (Elektra Nonesuch)

And I’ve also enjoyed reading “The Inner Game of Tennis” by Timothy Gallwey

Pianist & composer Loïc Dequidt is doing a project this fall that I’m really looking forward to be part of. He’s put together a larger ensemble, combining his quartet and a woodwind quintet put together by flutist Katlijn Sergeant. This enables him to write for a larger group which mixes jazz- and classical musicians and the format of the group opens up a lot of possibilities. We will be performing in Göteborg, Malmö & Stockholm and will also record an album to be released next year.

The ensemble consists of:

Katlijn Sergeant (BE), flute
Christoph Neuerburg (DE), oboe
Johnny Teyssier (US/F), clarinet
Jake Mączyński (CA/POL), french horn
Katelin Coleman (CA), bassoon
Staffan Svensson (SE), trumpet
Mattias Hjorth (SE), double bass
Peter Nilsson (SE), drums
Loïc Dequidt (FR/SE), piano & composition

These are some of the records I’ve been into lately:

Frank Zappa: Roxy The Movie (Eagle Vision) / Road Tapes Vol.2 (Vaulternative)
Stevie Wonder: Innervisions (Motown)
Milton Nascimento: Lô Borges-Clube Da Esquina (World Pacific)
Joni Mitchell: Travelogue (Nonesuch)
Miles Davis: Quintet 1965-68 (Columbia/Legacy)

And these are some concerts I’ve been to:

Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Juraj Valčuha (Straviksky: Le Chant Du Rossignol / Janáček: Sinfonietta) @ Malmö Live on September 22nd, 2016
Joëlle Léandre solo @ Inter Arts Center, Malmö on September 30th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Roger Muraro & Valérie Hartmann-Claverie conducted by Marc Soustrot (Messiaen: Turangalîla Symphony) @ Malmö Live on October 6th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Leif Segerstam (Shostakovich: Symphonies #1 & #15) @ Malmö Live on October 13th, 2016
Bobo Stenson solo @ Palladium, Malmö on October 25th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Adam Walker conducted by Han-Na Chang (Ravel: Ma Mère L’oye / Saariaho: Aile Du Songe / Beethoven: Symphony #7) @ Malmö Live on October 27th, 2016
Darcy James Argue & The Danish Radio Big Band @ DR Konserthuset on November 4th, 2016
Lotte Anker / Thomas Lehn / John Edwards / Paul Lovens @ Magle Konserthus, Lund on November 11th, 2016
Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra & Christopher Parkes conducted by Daniel Blendulf (Messiaen: Les offrandes oubliées / Atterberg: Horn Concerto / Shostakovich: Symphony #5) @ Berwaldhallen, Stockholm on December 10th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Boris Giltburg conducted by Karina Canellakis (Messiaen: Hymne au Saint Sacrement / Prokofiev: Piano Concerto #2 / Rachmaninov: Symphonic Dances) @ Malmö Live on January 19th, 2017
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Hans Pålsson conducted by Mei-Ann Chen (Mozart: Piano Concerto #24 / Mahler: Symphony #1) @ Malmö Live on January 26th, 2017
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Tolvan Big Band conducted by Vince Mendoza @ Malmö Live on February 2nd, 2017
Atomic @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on February 19th, 2017

I’ve also watched the film “Sounds and Silence – Travels with Manfred Eicher” (ECM)

“Composer in Residence” by Cecilia Persson & Norrbotten Big Band received the ”Best Jazz Album of 2016” award at the Swedish indie awards, Manifestgalan, held at Nalen in Stockholm on February 10th, with the following motivation:

“Toner som konstruerats med minutiös noggrannhet och mejslats ut med millimeterprecision. Progressiv jazz som uttrycker exakta känslor genom en ensemble av starka solister, samtidigt lyrisk och komplex. Storbandsjazz som är mer än storbandsjazz.”

This is the third album I’m on that receives this award. The Opposite won it in 2010 with “Intertwined” and so did Cecilia Persson’s “Open Rein” in 2014.

I’ve been listening to a lot of different things lately and some of the albums I’ve been into are:

Carla Bley: Dinner Music (Watt)
Donny Hathaway: Live (Atco)
Frank Zappa: Apostrophe (DiscReet)
Freddie Hubbard: The Love Connection (Columbia)
Egberto Gismonti: Em Familia (EMI)
Hindemith / Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra & Chailly: Kammermusik (Decca)
Stevie Wonder: Talking Book (Motown)
Tom Rainey Trio: Hotel Grief (Intakt)
Marc Ducret: Tower-Bridge (Ayler)

I’ve also been to a bunch of concerts, including:

Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Charlotte Hellekant & Rudolf Rosen conducted by Vassily Sinaisky (Rimskij-Korsakov: Scheherazade / Bartók: Bluebeard’s Castle) @ Malmö Live on March 17th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Andrew Litton (Mahler: Symphony #5) @ Malmö Live on March 31st, 2016
Chamber Music Series (Antheil: Symphony for 5 Instruments / Prokofiev: Sonata for 2 Violins / Stravinsky: Octet) @ Malmö Live on April 12th, 2016
Supersilent @ Malmö Live on April 25th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Trio Con Brio conducted by Marc Soustrot (Beethoven: Triple Concerto & Symphony #3) @ Malmö Live on April 28th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra, Einar Öhman & Boris Giltburg conducted by Marc Soustrot (Staern: Horn Concertino / Beethoven: Piano Concerto #5) @ Malmö Live on April 30th, 2016
Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Elisabeth Leonskaja conducted by Marc Soustrot (Brahms: Piano Concertos #1 & 2) @ Malmö Live on May 14th, 2016
Orquesta Libre @ Skuespilshuset, Copenhagen on July 9th, 2016
Egberto Gismonti solo @ Den Sorte Diamant, Copenhagen on July 9th, 2016
Sō Percussion (Reich: Drumming) @ Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center, NYC on July 16th, 2016
Joe Lovano/Tom Harrell/Anthony Cox/Billy Hart @ Village Vanguard, NYC on July 19th, 2016
Boston Symphony Orchestra & Jonathan Biss conducted by Andris Nelsons (Mozart: Piano Concerto # 27 / Mahler: Symphony #9) @ Tanglewood Music Festival, MA, USA on July 29th, 2016
Joachim Kühn solo @ Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival on August 4th, 2016
Roscoe Mitchell solo @ Inkonst, Malmö on September 1st, 2016

And I’ve read “Conversations II” by William Parker and “Mo’ Meta Blues” by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson & Ben Greenman.

We just finished mixing an upcoming album with expEAR & Drew Gress and besides that, there are also a couple of other albums that will be released during 2016. Naxos are about to release a CD with Cecilia Persson & Norrbotten Big Band, Andersson/Nilsson/Anderskov will release an album on Gateway Music in August and Hans Nyman’s trio album will be out on Nyman Records in the fall.

Thanks to doing some traveling, I’ve been to quite a few concerts during the last six months. Some nice ones have been:

Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Isabelle van Keulen conducted by Marc Soustrot (Boulanger: D’un matin de printemps / Dutilleux: Violin Concerto “L’Arbre des Songes” / Musorgskij: Pictures at an Exhibition) @ Malmö Live on September 10th, 2015

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra & Sergei Babayan / Alexander Gavrylyuk conducted by Valery Gergiev (Rachmaninov: Piano Concertos # 4 & 3) @ De Doelen, Rotterdam on September 12th, 2015

Chick Corea & Bela Fleck @ Town Hall, NYC on September 27th 2015

Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Håkan Hardenberger (Takemitsu: Paths for Solo Trumpet, Rain Coming / Stravinskij: Capriccio for Piano & Orchestra / Broström: Transit Underground / Lutoslawski: Concerto for Orchestra) @ Malmö Live on October 8th, 2015

Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Rainer Honeck conducted by Marc Soustrot (Mendelssohn: The Hebrides / Britten: Violin Concerto / Bartók: Concerto for Orchestra @ Malmö Live on October 22nd, 2015

Carla Bley Trios + Lennart Åberg Plays the Music of Carla Bley @ Fasching, Stockholm on November 8th, 2015

Malladi Brothers Sriram Prasad & Ravikumar/H N Bhaskar/Guru Karaikkudi Mani/N Amrit @ Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 16th, 2015

N Ravikiran Chitravina/Lalgudi Vijayalakshmi/Mannargudi Eswaran/K V Gopalakrishnan @ Arkay Convention Center, Chennai on December 17th, 2015

Kalakshetra (Dance) @ Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 18th, 2015

Abhishek Raghuram/Mysore Srikanth/Anantha R. Krishnan @ Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha, Chennai on December 19th, 2015

Shashank/B.U. Ganesh Prasad/Patri Satish Kumar @ Chettinad Vidyashram Auditorium, Chennai on December 20th, 2015

Dr. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman/S. Saketharaman/Vittal Ramamurthy/D. Chandrajith @ Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 21st, 2015

Mannargudi M.S.K. Sankaranarayanan/Mannargudi M.S.K. Venkatesan/Aridwaramangalm A.K. Palanivel/M.S. Ravi Kumar @ Brahma Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 22nd, 2015

Shantala Subramanyam/Akkarai Sornalatha/Vijay Natesan/Harihara Sharma @ Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 23rd, 2015

Shirisha Shashank (Dance) @ Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on December 24th, 2015

S. Shashank/B.U. Ganesh Prasad/V.V. Ramanamurthy/G. Guruprasanna @ The Music Academy, Chennai on December 25th, 2015

Mysore Brothers, Manjunath & Nagaraj/Patri Satish Kumar/V Suresh @ Arkay Convention Center, Chennai on December 26th, 2015

Jayanthi Kumaresh/Bangalore Arjun Kumar/Trichy S. Krishnaswamy @ The Music Academy, Chennai on December 26th, 2015

Akkarai Sisters Subhalakshmi & Sornalatha/M. Rajeev/N.C. Bharadwaj/N. Rajaraman @ The Music Academy, Chennai on December 27th, 2015

Ranjani & Gayathri/H.N. Bhaskar/Sai Giridhar/G. Chandrasekara Sharma @ Mylapore Fine Arts Club, Chennai on December 27th, 2015

Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Valery Gergiev (Sibelius: A Saga / Rimsky-Korsakov: The Golden Cockerel / Stravinsky: Petrushka) @ De Doelen, Rotterdam on January 22nd, 2016

Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Jian Wang conducted by Nikolaj Znaider (Dvořák: Cello Concerto in B minor / Shostakovich: Symphony #5) @ Malmö Live on February 11th, 2016

Brad Mehldau & Brussels Philharmonic Orchestra @ Flagey, Brussels on February 25th, 2016

For the same reason, I haven’t been listening as much to records lately. However, I’ve been into these albums:

Steve Coleman: Weaving Symbolics (Label Bleu)
Fredrik Ljungkvist / Mattias Hjorth: Past In Present (Kopasetic)
Gustav Mahler: Complete Works (Warner Classics)
Weather Report: The Legendary Live Tapes 1978-1981 (Sony Legacy)

And I’ve been reading “Igor Stravinsky” by Michael Oliver.

I spent December 16-30 in Chennai, India to study some concepts of Karnatic music. I studied konokol and some talas with flute player Shanthala Subramanyam and since I was there during the Music Season, I also got to see a lot of concerts.

Karnatic music is incredibly rich and advanced and truly fascinating/challenging. I was just scratching the surface of this highly sophisticated tradition/language but I did get a lot of material to work on. I will keep investigating it and try to dig a little deeper…

Besides taking lessons more or less every day, I also got to see a lot of concerts, which was very inspiring. Besides just enjoying the music, I’m glad I got to see a lot of different settings and performers. It felt very valuable to get to experience so much of this music live and I especially enjoyed getting to hear many different percussionists, particularly Patri Satish Kumar, Guru Karaikkudi Mani, Mannargudi Eswaran, Dr. Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman, Vijay Natesan, Ramakrishnan & V.V. Ramanamurthy (Mridangam), N Amrit & G. Guruprasanna (Khanjira) and V Suresh (Ghatam).

I have been listening to a lot of records this past six months and some of the albums I’ve been into are:

Peter Epstein Quartet: Polarities (Songlines)
Morton Feldman / Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin & Kluttig: For Samuel Becket (CPO)
Dr. N. Ramani: Classic Karnatic Flute (Nimbus)
Nikolay Roslavets / Marc-André Hamelin: Piano Music (Hyperion)
Don Cherry: Modern Art (Mellotronen)
Doug Hammond Trio: Perspicuity (Bellaphon)
Darius Milhaud / Radio-Sinfonieorchester Basel & Francis: The Complete Symphonies (CPO)
Jeff Ballard Trio: Time’s Tales (OKeh)
John Scofield: What We Do (Blue Note)
David Torn: Only Sky (ECM)

Once again, haven’t been to very many concerts (unfortunately) but I have enjoyed these:

Taraf de Haïdouks @ Pildammsteatern, Malmö on June 21^st
Chick Corea & Herbie Hancock @ Jazz Jazz à Juan in Antibes, France on July 12^th
Herbie Hancock solo piano @ Pomeranian Dukes’ Castle, Szczecin, Poland on July 22^nd

Also, I just finished Herbie Hancock’s book “Possibilities”.

This summer and the beginning of the fall has been an unusually slow period when it comes to gigs but I’m keeping busy practising / studying and I have some stuff coming up later in the fall. In November, I’m touring with Cecilia Persson & Norrbotten Big Band and expEAR will do a project together with double bass player extraordinaire Drew Gress in December. I’m also planning to go to Chennai, India in December to study konokol and I’m preparing a CD recording with guitarist Hans Nyman in a new project in January.

Having had more time to practise, I’ve spent a lot of time in my studio lately. I’ve been getting into working on one parameter at a time, focusing on different aspects of playing the drum set separately and then putting everything back together again. I haven’t really been working like this in the past but I really enjoy the feeling of being able to isolate the very fundamentals of playing the instrument and exploring each parameter individually. To me, this also gives me a chance to “catalog” my playing and examine my range (for instance when it comes to dynamics, tempo, density, complexity and so on).

This has also led me to come up with some exercises dealing with different aspects of playing (see Update August 2014), and I’m planning to develop those further and eventually start using them with my students as well. More about this later…

I just finished reading “Thelonious Monk – The Life and Times of An American Original” by Robin D. G. Kelley. This inspired me to pick up some more of Monk’s albums, so I’ve recently been into Thelonious Monk/Sonny Rollins (Prestige) and Straight, No Chaser / Underground / Criss-Cross / Monk’s Dream / Solo Monk (Columbia Original Classics)

Besides that, I’ve also been listening to:

David Virelles: Mbókò (ECM)
Drew Gress: The Sky Inside (Pirouet)
Uri Caine: Plastic Temptation (Winter & Winter)
Keith Jarrett: Hamburg ´72 (ECM)
Andy Laster: Hydra (Sound Aspects)
Jan Johansson: 300.000 / Den korta fristen (Heptagon)
Nikolay Roslavets: Violin Concertos / Chamber Symphony (Hyperion)

And I’ve continued to re-discover my vinyl collection. Lately, I’ve been into these albums:

Chick Corea: The Sun (Far East) / The Song of Singing (Blue Note) / Piano Improvisations Vol.1 & 2 (ECM)
Miroslav Vitous: Miroslav Vitous Group / First Meeting (ECM), Magical Shepherd (Warner)
Barry Altschul: You Can’t Name Your Own Tune (Muse)
Gil Evans: Where Flamingos Fly (Artists House) / Out Of The Cool (Impulse)
Various Artists: Jazz For A Sunday Afternoon Vol.4, Recorded Live At the Village Vanguard (Solid State)
Eric Dolphy: Outward Bound (Prestige)
Wayne Shorter: Odyssey Of Iska (Blue Note)

I haven’t been to very many concerts at all the during the past six months but a couple of shows that I enjoyed were:

Malmö Symphony Orchestra & Pascal Rogé conducted by Marc Soustrot (Saint-Saëns: Phaéton / Ravel: Piano concerto for the left hand / Ravel: Piano concerto in G Major / Debussy: La Mer) @ Malmö Konserthus on September 11th, 2014
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Vassily Sinaisky (Stravinsky: Scherzo Fantastique / Ravel: La Valse / Stravinsky: The Firebird) @ Malmö Konserthus on October 2nd, 2014
Malmö Symphony Orchestra conducted by Marc Soustrot (Stravinsky: Concerto in E flat Major / Symphony of Psalms / Petrusjka) @ Malmö Konserthus on October 9th, 2014
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman Quartet with Billy Mintz and Scott Colley @ Belgrade Jazz Festival on October 26th, 2014
Peter Brötzmann & Peter Uuskyla @ Moriska Paviljongen, Malmö on February 11th, 2015
Shantala Subramanyam/Avaneeswaram S.R. Vinu/Palakkad Mahesh Kumar @ Inkonst, Malmö on March 6th, 2015

Cecilia Persson’s album “Open Rein” received the ”Best Jazz Album of 2014” award at the Swedish indie awards, Manifestgalan, held at Nalen in Stockholm on February 6th, with the following motivation:

“För en effektiv och lyckosam förening av skenbart disparata uttryck: det noterade med det fritt improviserade, det lekfulla med det sofistikerade, det traditionsbundna med det experimenterande. Allt utfört i en fin avvägning mellan smakfullhet och oblyg fräckhet, vilket sammantaget visar prov på ett moget och spännande konstnärskap.” 

This is the second album I’m on that receives this award, The Opposite got it in 2010 with “Intertwined”.

I’m part of a new project called “expEAR” that I’m excited about. Together with saxophonist Henrik Frisk and pianist Maggi Olin, the idea behind this project is to have the three of us cooperate with different guests, in different musical situations. It’s not so much a band, it’s more of a laboratory. Our first performances are coming up in late January, when we will be joined by violinist and composer Katt Hernandez. Follow us at expear.com.

I recently seriously upgraded my home sound system, which included getting really good speakers (Phonar Credo M 100) and a good turntable (Thorens TD 125). This inspired me to get back into my vinyl collection and listen to some LP’s that I haven’t heard in a LONG time, including:

John Abercrombie: Quartet / M / Arcade (ECM)
Pharoah Sanders: Thembi / Wisdom Through Music / Jewels of Thought (Impulse)
Tony Williams: Ego / The Old Bum’s Rush (Polydor) / The Joy of Flying (CBS)
Charlie Haden: The Ballad of the Fallen (ECM)
Old And New Dreams: Old And New Dreams / Playing (ECM)
Albert Ayler: Music is the Healing Force of the Universe / The Last Album (Impulse)
George Adams: Sound Suggestions (ECM)
Rena Rama: Inside – Outside (Caprice) / New Album (Dragon)
Bill Frisell: Rambler (ECM)
Yusef Lateef: A Flat, G Flat And C (Impulse) / Into Something (New Jazz)
Elvin Jones: Midnight Walk (Atlantic)

Besides that, I’ve also been into some CD’s:

Miles Davis: The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions (Columbia)
Paolo Vinaccia: Very Much Alive (Jazzland Recordings)
Airto Moreira: Fingers (CTI) / Free (Sony)
Chick Corea / Gary Burton: Crystal Silence (ECM)
Paul Motian: On Broadway Vol.5 (Winter & Winter)
Cal Tjader: Soul Burst (Verve)
Sylvie Courvoisier Trio: Double Windsor (Tzadik)

And I’ve read “Steve Lacy – Conversations”, edited by Jason Weiss.

Haven’t been to that many concerts during the past six months but a couple of shows that inspired me were:

Shantala Subramanyam/Akkarai S Sornalatha/Jayachandra Rao @ Vita Huset, Lund on March 16th, 2014
Tom Rainey’s Obbligato @ The Stone, NYC on June 24th, 2014
Sleepthief @ Greenwich House Music School, NYC on June 25th, 2014

Also, I came across this video a while ago:

I really enjoyed watching this, it is so nice to hear Mr. Clark talk about Tony with so much respect, appreciation, passion and humor!

Inspired by that clip, I also re-watched this:

I’m really enjoying listening to what Mr. Williams is saying here (part 2), there is so much experience, experimentation, insight and wisdom there! I especially like what he is saying about independence, that it can “come out of necessity”, that you change the way you play because you need to. I’m into, and inspired by, that way of thinking and of other artists who, to my ear, also seem to have developed their way of playing by reaching for what they hear. This could also mean being interested in hearing things you weren’t already hearing / developing your ear and that kind of approach / quest could lead you to (large or small) realizations / inventions / innovations – challenging, important and very inspiring!

I’ve been practicing quite a bit lately. Since things have been slow when it comes to gigs this summer, I’ve been able to spend more time than usual in my rehearsal space, which has been really nice.

I’ve been getting together with fellow percussionist Bo Håkansson a couple of times since the beginning of this year. We’ve been exchanging ideas and concepts back and forth and it’s been very inspiring to me. Bo, who is a great percussionist and is coming from the classical world, has shared some of his thoughts on how to work on your sound, your touch and your control and that has reminded me of some basic elements that I had “forgotten about” / haven’t worked on in a LONG time…

For one thing, we’ve been talking about dynamics and being able to pick Bo’s brain on such a fundamental topic has inspired me to get back to basics in general. Thinking along those lines, I started thinking about basic parameters in general (such as 4-way independence, control/consistency of sound and, to quote Milford Graves, “the motions of drumming”) and started developing some exercises on the very fundamentals of drumming, exercises that are feeling quite “to the point” to me and that I will keep developing and probably start using with my students as well, once I’ve worked everything out. I’ve been enjoying constructing my own exercises the last couple of years and would like to spend more time on that in the future. Once I’ve worked them out, they usually feel pretty “tailor made” to me.

A couple of records are in the making. Some of these sessions took place a while back and things have been delayed for various reasons, but Andersson/Nilsson/Anderskov will release an album before the end of the year and an album with Epstein / Åman / Nilsson is mixed but we still haven’t decided on where to release it. Also, an album that I recorded with Azerbaijan saxophonist Rain Sultanov last fall will be out fairly soon.

lim will record a new album in January and we’re now working on all new music for that CD.

I’ll also be adding some more videos soon…

Reading Peter Erskine’s book “No Beethoven – An Autobiography & Chronicle of Weather Report” recently led me to go back to a couple of Weather Report albums, especially Heavy Weather, Black Market and Mr. Gone. I listen to Weather Report a lot anyway, but reading this book inspired me to get into some of their albums more than usual.

My favorite WR albums are Live in Tokyo, Sweetnighter, Mysterious Traveller, Black Market, Heavy Weather, Mr. Gone and 8:30.

Besides that, I have also been into these albums lately:

Mario Pavone: Arc Trio (Playscape)
David Virelles: Continuum (Pi Recordings)
Jan Garbarek/Egberto Gismonti/Charlie Haden: Carta de Amor (ECM)
Arvo Pärt: Alina (ECM)
Los Muñequitos de Matanzas: Congo Yambumba (Qbadisc)
Quincy Jones: The Deadly Affair (Verve)
Börje Fredriksson: Börje Fredriksson (Odeon)

I’ve also read “Always In Trouble – An Oral History of ESP-Disk’” by Jason Weiss and “Koltrasten som trodde att den var en ambulans – en bok om ljud” by Anders Mildner.

And some concerts that’s been inspiring to me during the past six months are:

Sylvie Courvoisier Trio @ Spectrum, NYC on September 10th, 2013
Shelley Hirsch/Michael Evans @ The Old Stone House, Brooklyn, NY on September 12th, 2013
“John Zorn at 60” Masada Marathon @ NYU Skirball Center, NYC on September 15th, 2013
Evan Parker/Milford Graves @ The Stone, NYC on September 21st, 2013
Terry Bozzio @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on October 16th, 2013
Kallio Slaaki @ Nefertiti, Göteborg on December 5th, 2013
Tim Berne/Jim Black/Nels Cline @ Copenhagen Jazz House on February 20th, 2014

I’m on a couple of recordings that are coming out soon. Readymade’s CD-debut will be out on Kopasetic, Cecilia Persson is releasing an album on Hoob Records and an album with Nyman/Nästesjö/Nilsson will be out on Nyman Records.

On top of that, an upcoming album with Andersson/Nilsson/Anderskov and a recording with Peter Epstein/Johnny Åman/Peter Nilsson are also being mixed and will be released during 2014.

Besides that, I am going to get back to my solo project soon. I’ve been too busy to be able to work on it this fall, but I’m picking it up again. lim is working on some new music and planning to record during next year and I’ll be part of a project that Cecilia Persson will be doing together with Norrbotten Big Band during 2014. A couple of new projects are also taking shape, more on that later.

I’ll also be adding some more videos and audio soon, stay tuned…

I’ve been listening to a lot of records lately, and some of the ones that I’ve really been into are:

Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet: Wisława (ECM)
Tony Malaby’s Apparitions: Voladores (Clean Feed)
Steve Coleman: The Mancy of Sound / Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (Pi Recordings)
Craig Taborn Trio: Chants (ECM)
Liudas Mockūnas & Marc Ducret: Silent Vociferation (NoBusiness)
Wayne Shorter: Beyond the Sound Barrier (Verve) / Without A Net (Blue Note)
Loren Stillman: Blind Date (Pirouet)
Jacob Anderskov: Granular Alchemy (ILK)
Dmitri Shostakovich: The Symphonies (Decca)

I have also been reading William Parker’s book “Conversations” as well as a bunch of interviews. Ronan Guilfoyle recently posted this interview with Steve Coleman on his website and I’ve also been reading a couple of the interviews posted on Ethan Iverson’s “Do the Math”, a blog/site that I think is a real treasure.

And I’ve been to a couple of concerts that have made an impact:

GUSH @ Inter Arts Center, Malmö on May 11th, 2013
Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet @ Copenhagen Jazz House on July 6th, 2013
Jacob Anderskov/Nils Davidsen/Gerald Cleaver @ Huset, Copenhagen on July 8th, 2013
Tim Berne’s Snakeoil @ Copenhagen Jazz House on July 14th, 2013

To be continued…

lim recently started rehearsing again after a period of inactivity. We’ve added guitarist Samuel Hällkvist to the group and turned into a quartet, and are entering a new phase with the band. We are planning to record a new album next spring and will also get back into performing live.

Besides working on some new music, we have also decided to rearrange some of the pieces that we’ve been playing as a trio in the past. This gives us a chance to change or open things up when it comes to interpretation, form, arrangements, etc, and also helps with keeping things fresh as well as making us aware of patterns/habits, that we might want to avoid getting stuck with and/or limited by.

Thinking about this reminded me of the fact that I have always enjoyed listening to artists revising their books, for instance Miles Davis (especially during the late ’60s), Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Weather Report, Bill Frisell, Paul Motian, John Zorn and Frank Zappa. I enjoy the process of further investigating what you already “know”!

I find searching for new ways of approaching “familiar” material very interesting and I look at this from two different perspectives. On one hand, there is the collective/overall approach, which could mean form, arrangement, approach, feel, etc, and on the other hand, there is the aspect of how to play your part.

The idea of trying to find other and, to me, new ways of approaching a piece of music is very inspiring and challenging to my ear/imagination/creativity. There are so many parameters you can focus on/work with, and I think that just keeping this in mind will affect your sensitivity as a listener as well as a performer. Again, interpretation/approach/feel, your role (tension/release), orchestration/colour/sound, articulation, density, dynamics and of course your rhythmic vocabulary, these are just some of the “tools” that can be examined and developed.

Many of the improvisers that I am inspired by seem to hear several possibilities of where to go or what/how to play at any given moment. Having that flow of ideas and freedom of expression is something that I am very attracted to and striving for in my own playing. I guess what makes this really successful is the balance between having a strong voice, a large vocabulary, being facile and keeping an open mind/ear.

On the other side of the spectrum is playing something that is very familiar or perhaps even set or arranged and still being able to make that feel genuine/fresh. This is something that I haven’t really been doing a lot in quite a while, but definitely something that I appreciate when I hear it.

Regardless of how you approach music and what/how you choose to play, I think the most important thing to strive for is making music that has honesty, vitality and conviction.

I thought I’d start mentioning some recordings, concerts, books, articles & interviews that have been inspiring to me lately.

Going back six months or so, a couple of concerts that stand out in my mind are:

Bill Frisell Quartet @ Copenhagen Jazz House on November 16th, 2012
John Hébert with Benoît Delbecq & Gerald Cleaver @ Joe’s Pub, NYC on December 16th, 2012
Michaël Attias Spun Tree @ Cornelia Street Cafe’, NYC on December 19th, 2012
Sylvie Courvoisier & Mark Feldman @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on February 18th, 2013
Keith Jarrett (solo piano) @ Royal Festival Hall, London on February 25th, 2013

Some of the CD’s that I’ve been listening to a lot lately are:

Keith Jarrett: Sleeper / Rio (ECM)
Craig Taborn: Avenging Angel (ECM)
John Zorn/Bar Kokhba Sextet: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume 11 (Tzadik)
Eduard Tubin: The Symphonies (BIS)
Nina de Heney: III (Found You Recordings)
Tim Berne: Snakeoil (ECM)
Evan Parker/Barry Guy/Paul Lytton: Nightwork (Marge)

I have also been reading the book “Horizons Touched – The Music of ECM”, edited by Steve Lake & Paul Griffiths

More later, stay tuned…

Besides recording an album with Cecilia Persson, playing with Icelandic guitarist Hilmar Jensson and going to France with The Opposite pretty soon, there are also a couple of new projects coming up this spring that I’m looking forward to. In April, I’ll be playing with pianist Satoko Fujii and in May, I’ll be touring and recording with a new project including saxophonist Peter Epstein.

Besides that, I am also working on my solo project and a couple of recordings are being mixed, one with Andersson/Nilsson/Anderskov and one with Readymade.

Also, lim just started working on some new music. We recently added guitarist Samuel Hällkvist to the group and are excited about entering a new phase as a quartet. More on that soon…

On wednesday, September 5th, The Opposite will celebrate the release of our new live-album, “In Action”, which will be out on Kopasetic Productions.
This takes place at Grand Öl & Mat, Monbijougatan 17 in Malmö. DJ Måns Mernsten (Damn!) will start things up at 21 and The Opposite will play a set at 22.

Also, The Opposite just launched a new website, check it out!

I´m on a couple of records that will be out this fall.

The Opposite will release a new live album on Kopasetic Productions in September. 9 Stygn, featuring Tony Malaby on tenor sax, P-O Nilsson on guitar, Johnny Åman on bass and myself will be released on Fresh Sound Records, and an album featuring my brother Anders on guitar, Joe Fonda on bass and myself will be out on Konnex Records.

I´m also recording a couple of albums this fall. Readymade will record an album in November and I´m also recording a solo CD. More info about the solo project soon…

I just attended this years International Rhythmic Studies Association meeting, which took place in Svalöv, Sweden. These meetings are held annually and this was the fifth one, but the first one for me – a very nice couple of days of sharing and discussing ideas, thoughts and concepts about rhythm with people from all over the world.

Among many interesting masterclasses, Izumi Kimura gave an interesting one discussing some of Conlon Nancarrow´s piano music and Swedish composer Daniel Hjorth talked about an interesting piece of his, entitled “Beat For your Life”.

We also did a workshop and played an outdoor concert with The Opposite.

You´ll find more info about IRSA at www.rhythmicassociation.org.

This summer, I am focusing on my upcoming solo recording as well as mixing a new live album with The Opposite, which will be out in September. Besides that, I´ve got some gigs coming up that I´m looking forward to, mostly at various festivals. Among other things, these will include performing with Kenny Werner and Miroslav Vitous among others during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival.

Welcome to my website! I am excited about launching it and wish to thank Nicolás Delfino, who built it and helped me a lot with getting it together. Besides adding news and updates, I will also try to use this part of the site as a blog, so stay tuned!