Discovery- Sweden
In this week’s Discovery series-we take a trip to Sweden. Sweden, a Scandinavian country in Norther Europe, is the third largest country in the European Union in land mass. Like many of the other European destinations we have visited with this series; Sweden has a rich history in music, art, architecture and history. Sweden has been home to some great jazz musicians born there as well as those who have made it their home. This wonderful country has embraced jazz in its various forms and is home to a number of clubs, educational institutions and jazz festivals.
As with our past locations, the goal is to introduce you to 3 new musicians each week from different parts of the world. My hope is you will find some new discoveries, support them by buying their albums and by attending their concerts if you are in their area (or they in yours). Another benefit is for you to hear new musicians and how they approach their instrument and jazz. You never know where you might find your next favorite line!
Sweden has a number of cities that offer live jazz, but their capital city of Stockholm is home to a number of clubs as well as the Stockholm Jazz Festival (which the JKQ hopes to play in the future!). If you click on the link above it will show you who is playing at this year’s festival which will happen on October 14-20th.
Like mentioned with other great Western European countries; Sweden has been the home to a number of jazz musicians known and unknown. Hopefully the musicians below are people you will start checking out (if you have not already).
Johan Christoffersson– sax
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F67pbrNvfWY&w=560&h=315]
Naoko Sakata– piano
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2qa8uz_ycE&w=560&h=315]
Kristian Brink– sax
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8Rme5HlZoc&w=560&h=315]
These are just a few of literally hundreds of great jazz musicians you can find in and/or from Sweden. If you have checked out these musicians above, be sure to check out their websites and albums to support them. I would also highly encourage you to look up other great Swedish musicians and see what this great country has to offer in terms of Jazz.
