Pär-Ola Landin

Saga: Färger

by Joshua Weiner
February 16, 2004

Art Farmer made a great record with Jim Hall in the '60s entitled To Sweden With Love. If Färger, the debut album by the piano trio Saga, is any indication, Sweden is more than ready to return some of that love. By turns moody, joyous, exuberant, and somber, Saga plays jazz that mixes Scandinavian folk flavors, neoclassical influences, and free playing in an enticing way.Pianist and composer Joakim Simonsson sets the tone with the introductory “Thank You," playing ...