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Karl-Martin Almqvist
As a soloist/member Karl-Martin is found both on record and in performance with a range some of the finest groups and constellations in Sweden, such as Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, Maggi Olin Band, Moksha, Mathias Landeus House of Approximation‚ Rigmor Gustafsson, Nils Landgren Funk Unit and Jacob Karlzon Big 5. He has played extensively throughout Europe and also toured Mexico, Latinamerica, Asia and the U.S.
Karl-Martin first formed his quartet in 1996. Full Circle‚ (Prophone PCD 068, 2004) is his second release as a leader, the debut record on the same label having been released 2001 (Prophone PCD 057). As the title suggests, Karl-Martin finds himself having come full circle in the partly new constellation, with Jonas �-stholm, piano, Filip Augustson, bass and Sebastian Voegler, drums. The group is showing a new side in it's overall sound and compositions. The concept and approach have further developed into something more personal, more sincere, and into a new found ease of expression, which is intensely melodic and rhythmical. The Karl-Martin Almqvist Quartet stands firmly in the grounds of tradition, at the same time as it continuosly searches for new streams.
The Karl-Martin Almqvist Quartet has played extensively throughout Scandinavia, appeared twice at the renown Stockholm Jazz Festival, and was last year invited to tour South America, performing at the "Providencia Jazz Festival" in Santiago de Chile and "LaPataia Jazz Festival" in Punto del Este, Uruguay, with other appearances in Argentina and Chile. The group was also invited to perform at the "Rochester International Jazz Festival" in New York state summer of 2005.
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Martin Sjöstedt & Stockholm Jazz Orchestra: Horizon
by Neil Duggan
The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra has been together since 1984--40 years at this writing. That is quite an achievement. especially in an age where large ensembles make little financial sense. In 1986, Bob Brookmeyer joined the band as a guest, eventually leading to his compositions featuring on their debut album, Dreams (Dragon, 1988). Subsequently, they have played with artists such as Maria Schneider and The Yellowjackets and undertaken numerous worldwide tours. Operating similarly to a jazz collective, all the ...
read moreDjango Bates: Tenacity
by Pat Youngspiel
Few jazz artists go to such great lengths to make their audience feel at the same time bewildered by humor-infused technical exhaustion and smitten by charm and sheer musical beauty as Django Bates does. The English pianist and composer has gained a reputation over the years, for bringing the quirkiest and widest range of ideas and styles to a, more or less, aesthetically-serious art form. Some might even claim he's the Frank Zappa of jazz. Then again, who's to say ...
read moreDjango Bates: Tenacity
by John Kelman
It's been a long time since that late May, 2013 week in Luleå, Sweden, where pianist Django Bates and his Belovèd Trio first collaborated with the renowned Norrbotten Big Band. Fully documented in the All About Jazz article Django Bates: From Zero to Sixty in Five Days, Bates, bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Peter Bruun, along with other non-Norrbotteners, including guitarist Markus Pesonen, tubaist Daniel Herskedal and trombonist/vocalist Ashley Slater, made the lengthy trek to this small coastal town, located ...
read moreKarl-Martin Almqvist: Sweden's "Bear" Digs for Roots
by Chris Mosey
In his native Sweden they call big, bearded Karl-Martin Almqvist The Bear." He's one the best of the current crop of jazz saxophonists there. Critics even make comparisons with Lars Gullin, the legendary reedman who gave Swedish jazz its own, highly distinctive voice. I would love to be able to say Gullin was my first influence," Almqvist responds ruefully. But actually, you know, it was Dexter Gordon. He was the first tenor player that really did it for me."
read moreKarl-Martin Almqvist: Mourning Dove
by Jack Bowers
Having written reviews for a number of years now, I am no longer surprised by the proficiency of musicians from overseas, many of whose names I’d never heard before our introduction via an album. A case in point is Sweden’s Karl–Martin Almqvist, as capable a post–bop tenor saxophonist as you’re likely to hear on either side of the Atlantic. As there are no liner notes, I don’t know if Almqvist picked up the tenor a few months ago or has ...
read moreSwedish Saxophonist Karl-Martin Almqvist Profiled at AAJ
Source:
All About Jazz
In his native Sweden they call big, bearded Karl-Martin Almqvist The Bear." He's one the best of the current crop of jazz saxophonists there.
Critics even make comparisons with Lars Gullin, the legendary reedman who gave Swedish jazz its own, highly distinctive voice. I would love to be able to say Gullin was my first influence," Almqvist responds ruefully. But actually, you know, it was Dexter Gordon. He was the first tenor player that really did it for me."
Almqvist ...
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"Almqvist has such a widely versatile artistic expression. There is depth, and he means it; maybe presence is a better word, or conviction. Authenticity‡ is maybe one of the greater qualities, since with Almqvist there is never the question of a technical demonstration of dexterity, instead, always a strong sense of communication within the group." --Ingrid Strömdahl, SvD