Stefan Wistrand

Biography
Press

Stefan Wistrand got hooked on jazz in the early 70s and at the same time took up playing the saxophone. At first involved in the then-current jazz rock scene, he soon encountered free jazz through the duo he formed in the mid 70s with drummer Peter Olsen. In 1978 they released the album “Duo” on composer Leo Nilsson’s label Studio Viarp. Throughout the 80s Wistrand was active on the alternative rock scene, touring Sweden and Scandinavia and recording three albums with rock group Memento Mori.

In the 90s he returned to jazz and improvisational music and was initially mainly active as leader of free jazz group Nods Off, with Olsen, bassist Stefan Larsson and guitarist Daniel Berton. Nods Off has released five CDs on Einnicken Records. Other jazz musicians who have been members of Nods Off are drummer Erik Dahlbäck, bassist Tommy Skotte, trumpeters Tommy Adolfsson and Emil Strandberg.

In 1999, together with musician Per Åhlund, Wistrand formed the musician collective and scene Memento in Eskilstuna. A coalition of creative musicians in the genres of electronica, jazz, rock and improvisation.

Wistrand started several projects with young musicians around the turn of the century 99-00, as for example jazz group Blue Room Repository Ensemble, “big band” Memento Creative Orchestra, free improvising units Fundamental Form and Two Sounds Ensemble.The latter, a duo with pianist Joakim Simonsson, has released two albums “Inversions” (2004) and “Fictions” (2009)

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In 2002-2003 Wistrand played as a soloist on soundtracks by film composer Thomas Rydell, among them the music for the Swedish motion picture “Hot Dog” by director Alexandra-Therese Keining. In 2007 Wistrand received an honorary award from the Memorial Foundation of groundbreaking Swedish saxophonist Börje Fredriksson “for considerable achievements in jazz with connection to (the city of) Eskilstuna”. 2008 saw the forming of the Wistrand/Rytzler Quartet, which plays in a style with considerable roots in 60s modal jazz. Wistrand and pianist Johannes Rytzler also perform as a duo.

The long-awaited debut album by Fundamental Form was released in 2010. The same year Wistrand also was assigned the County Council of Sörmland’s cultural scholarship for long time service as “an engine and driving force in the musical life, and in its forefront.”

The three-day Nordic Sound Station 2012 in Eskilstuna had Wistrand as its curator and featured electronic experimentation, free improvisation, contemporary art music, new jazz and rock music. Also curator for the music at the Nordic Art Station in Eskilstuna in 2013.

In 2013 Wistrand formed The Electric MZ as a tool to find a new way to approach the jazz rock he had experienced in the 70s. The group includes David Lindh, guitar, Johannes Rytzler, keyboards, Mattias Green, bass & flugelhorn, Peter Olsen, drums and Johan Carlsson, drums & percussion. The Electric MZ's debut album “Silent in the Murmur” was released in 2015 and was followed by a second album entitled ”Eternity & A Day” in 2018.

The fall of 2017 saw Wistrand receiving Eskilstuna municipality’s music prize. The motivation by the jury read: ”This year's music prize winner, has as saxophonist, with thorough knowledge of improvisational music and its development in Sweden, been an inspiration and music creator together with many young musicians. On the record company Einnicken Records, established in 1993, there are several releases that have received great appreciation in free form and jazz circuits, not only in Sweden but around the world.”

In his research on Swedish jazz history, Wistrand has written two books: ”Jazzen och dansorkestrarna i Eskilstuna – 1924-1969” (Jazz and its dance orchestras in Eskilstuna – 1924-1969) in 2017 and ”Börje Fredriksson, saxofonist” in 2019. The latter a biography about the early dead saxophonist Börje Fredriksson (1937-1968). One of the truly rare voices in Swedish jazz, both as saxophonist and composer. Following the biography a digital double album with the same title consisting of rare unreleased recordings by Fredriksson and compiled by Wistrand was released on Caprice Records.

A new album entitled “Intro: Version” with a “lost” edition of free jazz group Nods Off was released in April 2021. Containing compositions by Wistrand and recorded live in a club atmosphere in 1999. At that time, in addition to Wistrand, the band consisted of drummer Erik Dahlbäck and bassist Tommy Skotte. Both with experiences from playing free jazz with i.a. Per Henrik Wallin (Dahlbäck) and Peter Brötzmann (Skotte).

Awards

The honorary award of Börje Fredriksson's Memorial Foundation (2007)
The County Council of Sörmland’s cultural scholarship (2010)
Eskilstuna municipality's music prize (2017)

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Nods Off “Intro: Version” (Einnicken, 2021)
”The album convinces me anyway that they must have been one of the 90's more exciting Swedish jazz groups. The music still feels wonderfully free and raw and much more modern and urgent than much of what is produced today. It is cheeky and does not fear the caesars of music who prefer smooth-combed people who sleep well at night.”
Kulturdelen (Sweden)

The Electric MZ “Eternity & A Day” (Einnicken, 2018)
”Together, everyone contributes to creating a genuine group sound, which despite the actual timelessness of the music and its 'here and now' still feels a lot of Swedish 70's, but then of the absolute best kind

Nods Off “Intro: Version” (Einnicken, 2021)
”The album convinces me anyway that they must have been one of the 90's more exciting Swedish jazz groups. The music still feels wonderfully free and raw and much more modern and urgent than much of what is produced today. It is cheeky and does not fear the caesars of music who prefer smooth-combed people who sleep well at night.”
Kulturdelen (Sweden)

The Electric MZ “Eternity & A Day” (Einnicken, 2018)
”Together, everyone contributes to creating a genuine group sound, which despite the actual timelessness of the music and its 'here and now' still feels a lot of Swedish 70's, but then of the absolute best kind. The title is a homage to director Theo Angelopoulos. An album to glorify the summer with.”
Orkesterjournalen (Sweden)

”Should you compare the band with something else, maybe it could be Tonbruket, which can move in about the same boundaries. But The Electric MZ cultivates a softer and more rounded and unified sound. That I called Stefan Wistrand the band's forefront figure does not mean he is the dominating soloist, although we can enjoy really fine saxophone playing as on “Stratum” and a wonderful effort on bass clarinet on “Endless”, the final cut of the record, which at the same time cradle us down. It is after all the band as a whole and a unity that is at the center and the sound that is collectively created.”
Kulturdelen (Sweden)

”Jazz coming from funk, psychedelia, and Latin with clear contemporary sounds”.
DIG Jazz (Sweden)

The Electric MZ ”Silent in the Murmur” (Einnicken, 2015)
”The dynamics of Electric MZ is in the repetitive, restrained with flavor and substance entrenched, just as when I have heard Wistrand when he’s worked with improvisational music in successful constellations as Two Sounds Ensemble and Nods Off.”
Orkesterjournalen (Sweden)

”The music literally flows, and could well last a good deal longer than the ten minutes that the compositions here fluctuate around without losing sting and substance. This applies in particular to the composition Coasting Along, which is cruising jazz at its best and definitely the most sumptuous feature on the album.”
DIG Jazz (Sweden)

”You can hear a lot in the music of The Electric MZ, but it does not feel right to enumerate all the references and winks offered. Instead, it's just to say that Stefan Wistrand and the band has done something of their own of all commodities and also made it a very enjoyable musical moment for the listener.”
Dala-Demokraten (Sweden)

Fundamental Form ”Fundamental Form” (Einnicken, 2010)
“The common thread is Stefan Wistrand’s brilliant saxophone that constantly adapts to the situation and flows nicely into whether the background is an Alvin Lucier-like drone as in “Att” or a mishmash of cacophonic electronics as in “Mig”. A most interesting group with a really versatile saxophonist who you should definitely keep an eye on in the future.”
Lira (Sweden)

“It's like going in with open eyes into a dream. Fundamental Form’s essentially ritual music is highlighted by the vocal elements, whose atavistic pulse is captured by the percussion.”
Sound of Music (Sweden)

Two Sounds Ensemble “Fictions” (Found You Recordings, 2009)
”The CD is one of this Spring’s real peaks! Two Sounds Ensemble plays unobtrusive improvisational music with features of modern classical music.”
Orkesterjournalen (Sweden)

”With small means, and a choosy acoustic sound that is sometimes distorted by various effects, the duo creates something as rare as a real form conscious moment works.”
Svenska Dagbladet (Sweden)

Nods Off “In the Space Between” (Einnicken, 2005)
”Needless to say, the ensemble saturates its palate with a good-natured vibe that becomes quite conspicuous from the onset. (Recommended…)”.
All About Jazz

“While the band casts a mesmerizing spell with its collective entreaty, the improvising talent of each member vividly surfaces out of the waters of this briskly bubbling cauldron.”
Cadence

Two Sounds Ensemble “Inversions” (Einnicken, 2004)
”Sweden's TSE-Two Sounds Ensemble-reigns in its free jazz vision with laudable restraint, with a lovely wandering progression in its instantly composed music that stays appealingly within earshot of the lyrical and melodic musical path, stretching structure with breaking it.”
All About Jazz

“There's plenty of swirling abstraction, as one might expect, but they also keep things varied with some beautifully lyrical passages and some gorgeous on the spot (presumably) themes... it seems like they really explored the space and found some interesting corners along the way. Definitely recommended.”
Jazzcorner

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