Home » Jazz Musicians » Nils Berg

Nils Berg

Instruments: Tenor Sax, Bass Clarinet, Flute, Computer

BIO Swedish jazz pioneer Nils Berg is one of the most influential voices in nordic jazz. With his quartet, The Stoner, he has made a name for himself both in Sweden and internationally, and in 2007 he received the prestigious Jazz-in- Sweden-award.. As a composer he won’t dodge projects that cross over conventional borders - collaborations with electronica artist Forss and choreographer Dorte Olesen to name a couple. His trio Nils Berg Cinemascope is a prime example of this, fusing jazz together with video clips of musicians from all over the globe gathered from YouTube.

Nils was born 1977 in Gothenburg, Sweden into a musical family. After moving to Stockholm he attends to the Royal Music Academy for studies of composition, improvisation and the woodwinds, while exploring new musical grounds in between jazz and indie pop together with bands like Oskar Schönning, ”Peter Bjorn And John” and Loney Dear. In 2000, he wins “Jazzverk 2000”, a nationwide competition for big band composers. 2004 marked the birth of his quartet ”the Stoner”. His first solo record was released in 2007, when he was also given the ”Jazz in Sweden”-award. 

LINKS www.thenilsberg.com www.nilsbergcinemascope.com www.thestoner.com www.oskarschonning.com www.hoobrecords.com

2004  Recording debut as a bandleader. The Stoner releases "Upp till kamp" (APCD003)

2005 Creates the opening show for Umeå International Jazz Festival together with electronica artists Forss, Borg, and the dance company Beef Noodles.

2006   Writes the music for contemporary dance shows Måndag (Dorte Olesen Produktion, Dansens Hus) and Martha vet – allt om lycka (Minna Krook, Zebra- dans)

2007 Records 2007 year's Jazz-in-Sweden-record for Caprice Records. Touring Europe with Nils Berg 5. Releases the album "Hat Music" with The Stoner. Playing with among others, Paavo, Oskar Schönning and Mando Diao. The Stoner performs at Cape Town International Jazz Festival in South Africa.

2008 Forms Nils Berg Cinemascope, begins to incorporate video in the composition process. Touring Japan, USA and Europe with Mando Diao. Records the album Hat Music with The Stoner in the small Czech village of Svarov. The Stoner tours Finland, Syria and Germany. Records the Belgrade Tapes in Belgrade, touring Serbia with Oskar Schönning.

2009 Releases The Stoner's fourth album Hat Music. Plays during the year with among others, indie band Skriet, Mikael Augustsson's DynaMike and Paavo.

2010 Running the weekly jazz club Strand Jazz at Hornstull Strand Etablissemang in Stockholm. Performs over the year at Strand Jazz with a series of guest artists, including Lina Nyberg, Jonas Kullhammar and Sofia Jernberg. Performs at Jazz Baltica in Germany with Nils Landgren and Michael Wollny. Tours Sweden, Greece and Czech Republic with 2010 year's Jazz-in-Sweden-Artist Samuel Hällkvist. Co-operation with Irish guitarist Shane Latimer. Recording the debut album of Nils Berg Cinemascope.

Read more

Tags

6
Album Review

Toldam / Riedel / Berg / Wiklund / Christensen: Tak for dit brev

Read "Tak for dit brev" reviewed by Troy Dostert


Danish pianist Simon Toldam has made his mark as an abundantly creative improviser, most recently manifest on his work with Ways--a duo comprised of saxophonist Brodie West and drummer Evan Cartwright. Their Fortunes (Lorna Records, 2020) was an album defined by unusual gestures and subtle refractions, keeping the listener guessing throughout. Toldam's latest release, Tak for dit brev (the title translates as “Thank You For Your Letter") isn't as overtly adventurous, but it still possesses plenty of quiet charm, and ...

Album Review

Toldam, Riedel, Berg, Wiklund, Christensen: Tak for dit brev

Read "Tak for dit brev" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Quarantadue anni, danese, il pianista (qui anche occasionalmente clarinettista) Simon Toldam dirige in questo ragguardevole album un quintetto dalla struttura eminentemente cameristica che non può non rimandare a più o meno remoti lavori di Jimmy Giuffre e di un certo cenacolo (Shorty Rogers, Shelly Manne, Ralph Peña, Buddy Collette, Bud Shank, ecc.) che a partire dalla metà degli anni Cinquanta ci hanno offerto una visione del jazz, già post-bop e di fatto anche post-cool, “ammalata" di Europa, di toni più ...

10
Album Review

Nils Berg Cinemascope: Vocals

Read "Vocals" reviewed by James Pearse


Swedish reed player Nils Berg scours the online world for unusual and unconventional musical performances to use as a backdrop to his music. He then edits the original down to capture the “essence" of the song and then writes new music on top. Here's where it gets really interesting: the Nils Berg Cinemascope trio then performs the new music live with a YouTube video of the original artist projected as a living backdrop. In this sense, the “guest ...

Read more articles
"Berg transcends conceptual cleverness; the tunes and the performances would be fantastic even without the video cameos." DOWNBEAT "The Fellini of swedish jazz" DN "Mysterious and irresistible" ROLLING STONE "Nils Berg Cinemascope is not only an exciting project with an ingenious concept that broadens my view of what live music is, it's also among the best I've heard in a long time. Really bloody good" G-P ”Nils Berg feels like some kind of new jazz musician. Personal, humble, direct and unruly”. “Music that holds more than it excludes ��" it has groove, beauty and something almost naïvely affirmative to it … A new kind of jazz” (DN) “Tenor sax player Nils Berg leads the quartet the Stoner with credit

Read more

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Tak for dit brev

ILK Music
2021

buy

Vocals

Hoob Records
2014

buy

Popmotion

Hoob Records
0

buy

Pashto Love

From: Vocals
By Nils Berg

Orissa (In the Hands of the Lord)

From: Popmotion
By Nils Berg

Videos

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.