Jacob Karlzon - One (2015)

Tracklist:

01. On the Horizon (7:00)
02. Fragranzia (4:42)
03. Flowers from the Sky (5:33)
04. Fragranzia - On the Horizon (5:58)
05. Mad World (5:01)
06. Around (3:44)
07. Sorgen och Gladjen (5:09)
08. When I Close My Eyes (4:17)

‘When you are alone onstage, it is the interaction with the audience which will determine the dynamics that will evolve during an evening’s performance’, says Jacob Karlzon. With (his new CD) ONE the Swedish piano virtuoso will go on a solo-tour for the first time, performing in an exciting ménage à trois – artist, piano and audience. And here the musical breadth will be as wide-ranging as the dynamics: Karlzon’s oeuvre includes references to Ravel, Tears for Fears and U2, as much as his own compositions and Swedish folk melodies. Thereby his sheer ability of improvisation and depth, ranging from delicate, ‘fragile’ sounds to energetic, powerful storms, comes to the fore.

Jacob Karlzon’s art combines impressive technique and tremendous musical sensitivity, features which already at the beginning of his career made him into a sought-after sideman. The list of singers and musicians with whom he has shared the stage speaks for itself: Silje Nergaard, Nils Landgren, Viktoria Tolstoy, Billy Cobham, Kenny Wheeler, Norma Winstone and other greats from the world of jazz. As a member of the elite group of ‘Steinway artists’, after ten CDs under his own name, numerable awards and distinctions, and tours through Europe, China and the United States, the likable, friendly ‘Jeans and Boots Guy” himself now belongs to the leading (great) names in Jazz. Apart from his remarkably creative compositions and ability in performance, Jacob Karlzon is known in particular for his continuous search for the novel, the innovative, in music. With his band Jacob Karlzon 3, for example, he invented and shaped the term “technorganic”, combining acoustic instruments with metal-riffs and electronic loops.

Karlzon is rooted in instrumental and improvised music, but the conventional genre categories have always been too narrow for him. His new solo-project thus constitutes the next, radical step in his remarkable musical career: ‘I love contrasts in being engaged in music. After a period of intensive play with technology, sounds and band, it will be a big contrast to once again play solo onstage.’ Thus: instead of Jacob Karlzon 3, now it will be Jacob Karlzon ONE, concentrating on the piano, its distinctiveness and beauty. It will also include a CD with the same name which will be available exclusively at concerts. ‘In a solo-concert there is not much one “can hang onto” – that is a real challenge each evening. But it is exactly this intimate setting in which I long to play. From this idea also arose the title of the new CD, “ONE” - to be alone onstage, to take in the atmosphere of the audience, and to become one with them.’