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Sigmar Matthíasson

Sigmar Matthiasson is a man of many names but the one most fitting is the Bass Viking. His sound is best described as a magnificent blend of hardcore groove and colorful melodies with influences ranging from Megadeth and Led Zeppelin to Jaco Pastorius and Ray Brown.

Born in Reykjavik, Iceland, Sigmar started playing bass around the age of 16. He was first introduced to jazz when studying at the F.I.H. School of Music where he graduated from in 2012. Later on Sigmar furthered his jazz studies at The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York, where he studied with Jeff Carney, Reggie Workman and Hal Galper among others. He graduated with honors in the spring of 2016.

Sigmar has been an active performer on the Icelandic music scene for several years, performing and/or recording with many of the most in-demand pop and jazz musicians in Iceland. In addition Matthiasson has performed at many international festivals, including Oslo Jazz Festival in Norway, Jazz Finland Festival in Helsinki, Bern Jazz Festival in Switzerland, Nordic Jazz Festival in Washington DC and Reykjavík Jazz Festival in Iceland.

His most recent solo project is ÁRÓRA that plays Matthiasson’s original compositions. In 2014 Áróra performed at the Reykjavik Jazz Festival in Iceland and the Young Nordic Jazz Comets showcase in Helsinki, Finland. In 2018 the group recorded it's debut album at Sigurros' legendary studio Sundlaugin. The album, entitled ÁRÓRA, will be released on September 7th 2018.

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Album Review

Sigmar Matthíasson: Arora

Read "Arora" reviewed by Mike Jurkovic


Now working and studying in New York, Icelandic bassist/composer Sigmar Matthiasson crossed the cold Atlantic with the groundbreaking sounds of Jaco Pastorius, Led Zeppelin, Reggie Workman, Ron Carter, and Scott LaFaro in his head and dreams. It's no wonder that Matthíasson's lyrical and eminently likable debut recording exhibits such a classic American feel. From the plaintively circular piano signature that introduces “Nordurljos" ("Northern Lights") to the fusion breakdown taking “Aurora No. 2" and the album to its exciting ...

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All About Jazz.com - "Icelandic quartet Aurora's rhythmically elastic acoustic jazz veered between feather-light grooves, catchy group vamps of contemporary hue and headier, more intense rhyhms. The final song of its set proved it can also pen a damn fine tune; Helgi Rúnar Heiðarsson stood out as one of the more impressive saxophonists of the entire Jazz Finland Festival." https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazz-finland-festival-european-jazz-conference-verneri-pohjola-by-ian-patterson.php? pg=2

Jónas Sen, Fréttablaðið - "...Hann fór líka fimum höndum um kontrabassann, og gerði það af gríðarlegri innlifun

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