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Helge Albin

For over thirty years, Helge Albin has been working hard to turn the the small Swedish city of Malmo into an international destination for the best in forward-thinking jazz music. And he has a lot to show for it—The Tolvan Big Band, an 18-member ensemble dedicated to performing new music by Albin and others has toured in Europe, Australia and South America, and worked with jazz masters Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman, and Michael Brecker, among many others.

The ensemble has released twelve recordings, four of them featuring Albin’s music. All About Jazz said the most recent album of Albin’s music, Effortlessly, released in 2013 by the Swedish label Kopasetic, tells a “nuanced story full of twists and suspense” through the intricate details of the compositions. “I’ve always wanted the big band to play with the flexibility of a quartet,” Albin says about how he leads the band, “So, I chose players who play creatively even as they are reading sophisticated parts.” And it has paid off. The Tolvan Big Band performs polished ensemble music with the personality of a small group—they are light on their feet even when the band’s 18 members are playing at full power.

Helge Albin has also built bridges to the classical music community. His four-movement suite “Thetris,” written in 2008 and featuring the Malmo Symphony Orchestra along with the Tolvan Big Band, is a collaboration on a grand scale. This concert-length suite asks the orchestra to provide a dynamic and challenging accompaniment to jazz improvisations—the orchestral musicians provide incisive counterpoint and constantly shifting colors that build on the foundation of Albin’s warm melodies and brilliant rhythms. This piece had its world premiere in Malmo on the summer of 2008, and was released by the Stockholm label Caprice Records.

This veteran saxophonist, composer and bandleader is not slowing down. Since retiring from his professorship at Malmo Academy of Music, Albin has renewed his commitment to his creative work and continues to initiate new projects. And as he does, his warmth of personality, his finely-honed skill, and his enthusiasm for his art form will be at the core of everything this creative musician undertakes.

Awards

received the 2011 GULDNÅLEN award, the 2010 JAZZKANNAN award, the 1995 Sydsvenska Dagbladets Europapris, and the 1984 Golden Disc award, in recognition of his work not only as a performer, but as leader and statesman in Sweden’s arts community.


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31
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band: Interacting

Read "Interacting" reviewed by Jack Bowers


There's an ample supply of engaging music on Interacting, the fourteenth recording by Sweden's splendid Tolvan Big Band, all of it written and arranged by director and lead alto saxophonist Helge Albin. A shame there isn't more than thirty-two minutes worth. Be that as it may, the music itself is by and large buoyant and swinging, with seamless interplay among the various sections and sharp solos by Albin ("Dancing Shoes," “Lightsome") and his colleagues. Trombonist Peter Dahlgren ...

5
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band: Effortlessly - Music by Helge Albin

Read "Effortlessly - Music by Helge Albin" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


Swedish saxophonist, composer and arranger Helge Albin has led the Tolvan Big Band since 1979. Albin turned this ambitious, up-to-date big band, located in Malmö in southern Sweden, into a musical institution with an international reputation. They have collaborated with notable American musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker, British composer Mike Westbrook and Danish saxophonist Lars Møller; the band even dedicated one of its programs to new arrangements of the John Lennon songbook. ...

50
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band: Tarantula Suite

Read "Tarantula Suite" reviewed by Eyal Hareuveni


The Tolvan Big Band is one of Scandinavia's most experienced big bands. Located in Malmö, in southern Sweden, this orchestra has been working since 1979 and, under saxophonist/musical director Helge Albin, has collaborated with notable Americans such as Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Liebman and Michael Brecker, British composer Mike Westbrook and Danish saxophonist Lars Møller; the band has even dedicated one of its programs to new arrangements of the John Lennon/Paul McCartney songbook. On Tarantula Suite, reed player ...

182
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band: Code Red

Read "Code Red" reviewed by Edward Blanco


From the coastal town of Malmo, Sweden, the eighteen-piece Tolvan Big Band has developed into one of the finest contemporary jazz orchestras in the world. Led by saxophonist and composer Helge Albin since 1979, the band entered Sun Studios in Copenhagen on April 22nd of 2007 and emerged with Code Red, a powerhouse recording of seven original big band arrangements in the finest tradition of the genre.

Leader Albin contributes three compositions, including the muscular opening ...

345
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band: Code Red

Read "Code Red" reviewed by Chris Mosey


Sweden must have more jazz big bands per head of population than any other country in the world. Tolvan Big Band, based in the southern port city of Malmö, is the cream of the crop. Tolvan means The Twelve, the number of musicians in the band when it was formed in the late 1960s. It also refers to the 12 centiliters of aquavit each of them would routinely consume on a gig! Arrangements were pretty loose in those days. When ...

115
Album Review

The Tolvan Big Band: A Walk in the Centerpoint

Read "A Walk in the Centerpoint" reviewed by Jack Bowers


When it comes to swinging in a contemporary groove, Sweden’s Tolvan Big Band takes a back seat to no one. This is a killer ensemble, able to stare down the most formidable charts without flinching or even blinking an eye. Regardless of mood or tempo the sense of forward motion is always there, thanks to fastidious unison work by all hands and a strapping rhythm section governed by drummer Lennart “In the Groove” Gruvstedt.

Music director Helge ...

178
Album Review

Tolvan Big Band/Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Tolvan Big Band: Plays the Music of Helge Albin/ Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple

Read "Tolvan Big Band: Plays the Music of Helge Albin/ Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Critics Note. Tolvan Big Band: Plays the Music of Helge Albin and Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple were previously reviewed by AAJ 's Big Band aficionado, Jack Bowers in the January and February 1999 issues of All About Jazz, respectively. Additionally, Ken Schaphorst Big Band: Purple was reviewed by Mark Corroto in the March Issue of AAJ.

Large Ensemble Jazz from Naxos. Naxos Jazz began its survey of the state of big band jazz with the release of the UMO ...

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“The Best Big Band I’ve played since 1947

- - D I z z y G I l le s p I e

“ You can’t find such a band even in New York”

- - M I k e B r e c k e r

- - “ this latest CD reinforces its reputation as a world - class outfit”

- - A l l A b o u t J a z z

,,,, “must be among the best in jazz at the moment”

— Irish Times

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Interacting

Prophone Records
2022

buy

Effortlessly

Kopasetic Productions
2013

buy

Tarantula Suite

Kopasetic Productions
2011

buy

thetris

Caprice Records
2008

buy

Code Red

Prophone Records
2007

buy

A Walk in the...

Prophone Records
2003

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