ACT

E.S.T.: 301 2007 (2012) [CD]

Digipack.<br/><br/>Though there are many beautiful singing voices in jazz today, Viktoria Tolstoy is one of a kind. A great melodramatist of jazz who is also bipolar, she makes happiness sound fragile and threatened, and bitterness sweet and enchanting. She has framed and perfected this art on a conceptual level since becoming an ACT artist in 2003, whether concentrating on material from Esbjörn Svensson - whose e.s.t. began to some extent as her accompanying trio - or, most recently, on Herbie Hancock, classical originals, Swedish standards or repertoire from Russia, the home of her ancestors. Her latest album "A Moment Of Now" is her most frank recording yet - for one simple reason: "Jacob [Karlzon] and I are the concept this time," says Viktoria. Indeed it is an intimate album by the duo that focuses on their musical partnership. Karlzon has been Tolstoy's trusted companion on her band projects for almost 15 years now, his playing thrives on nuances, transitions, ambiguities - be they inspired by classics such as Grieg or hard rockers the likes of KoRn. It is a partnership that shows no signs of abating, despite Karlzon's own highly successful trio that bears his name. "We each generally know in advance what the other is thinking and is going to do, without either of us having to say anything. It's almost a bit spooky," says Tolstoy of the intuitive understanding between the two. <br/><br/>Their style depends on melodies like a fish depends on water, and 14 of the best are brought together on "A Moment Of Now". As Tolstoy explains, they are "songs we've heard a lot in recent years, and that imposed themselves on us, but also some that were entirely new to us and were really a challenge". This has resulted in a selection that sounds entirely coherent and as if created especially for these two musicians, even though its component parts come from the most diverse, stylistic, and often surprising backgrounds. From the classical "Apres Un Reve" by the Frenchman Gabriel Faurè, to Stevie Wonder's soul-pop "Send One Your Love" - on which Tolstoy invited Jocke Bergström, a new face in these climes, to share in a vocal duet that simply takes your breath away - to the jazzy "Shadow And Light" by Joe Zawinul. Thanks to Tolstoy's father, who suggested Phil Collins' "Against All Odds", the entire history of Genesis is represented, so to speak, with "Taking It All Too Hard" and Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain" also rebooted on the album. <br/><br/>Beyond global hits like these or Alanis Morissette's biggest success "Hand In My Pocket", the album also includes new discoveries like "Satisfied" from the almost-forgotten funk virtuoso Lewis Taylor and "Deep River" from Norwegian jazz saxophonist Benedik Hofseth. Among the pieces, three were originally instrumentals; namely "Apres Un Reve" (based on Faurè's "Apres Un Reve"), the Pat Metheny revamp "A Moment Of Now", and Karlzon's own composition "Scent Of Snow". For these, Anna Alerstedt, the fantastic songwriter who Tolstoy discovered in 2008 for "My Russian Soul", once again pens profound and memorable lyrics.<br/><br/>The ease with which Viktoria Tolstoy and Jacob Karlzon can change the fundamental character of songs that otherwise seem to be set in stone is quite spectacular. The best example of this is their interpretation of Mark King's "Lessons In Love", transformed from a loud up-tempo song by the funk band Level 42 into a melancholy ballad. There's also Cole Porter's classic "I Concentrate On You", which rings out as a Nordic anthem, and which in the middle section is even reminiscent of Esbjörn Svensson's "Love Is Real". But above all, what the songs all have in common is an overwhelming quietude and power. The weighty and complex sounds light and easy - just note the jumps and key changes on "Satisfied", where the subtle nuances and vocals change and shape the music. <br/><br/>There is a calmness and strength in the music that comes from experience and draws from the tried and trusted. For example, Nils Landgren returns as the producer, while the album was recorded with the familial team at Nilento Studios in Goteborg. "I felt safe and well looked after at every moment," Tolstoy recalls, "Never change a winning team!". This is how a fascinating and completely unique moment in her and Karlzon's oeuvre was born-and it is one that will remain.

Verneri Pohjola Quartet: Ancient history 2012 [Digipack / CD]

Exakt 20 år efter debuten "Shining on You" har Viktoria Tolstoy samlat ihop sin kära ACT-familj, på nya albumet "Stealing Moments". Nya, specialskrivna låtar av ACT-artister som Nils Landgren, Ida Sand, Lars Danielsson och Jan Lundgren samt en instrumental pärla av Esbjörn Svensson. Tolstoy backas upp av en eminent kvartett, med pianisten Joel Lyssarides i spetsen.<br/><br/>LIRA GILLAR! "Detta är en av Tolstoys absolut bästa skivor där topplåtarna avlöser varandra. Temat är självklart kärlek, sådan som aldrig rostar och sådan som sinat. Det är vemodigt vackert, positivt sentimentalt och emellanåt högt tempo med imponerande pianolöpningar." (Alexandra Ullsten, Lira)<br/><br/> Högt betyg i DI!<br/>"Lysande jazzigt - en virtuos i genren."<br/>(Jan Gradvall, Di)

En världsnyhet briserade tidigare i höstas, när ACT meddelade att <b>Esbjörn Svenssons</b> änka hittat tidigare okänd solopianomusik som Esbjörn spelat in i hemmet, bara några veckor innan han förolyckades 2008. Nu släpps albumet HOME.S. - en improvisatorisk dröm, signerad en av Sveriges största jazzartister.<br/><br/>The release of HOME.S., the only existing, previously unreleased solo album by pianist Esbjörn Svensson, is nothing less than a sensation. The recordings were made in Svensson's Swedish home - just weeks before his tragic death on June 14, 2008, after which they rested undiscovered on a hard drive in his wife Eva Svensson's personal archive for nearly ten years. HOME.S. consists of nine piano songs, with a combination of written-out fragments and Svensson's unique, melodic style of improvisation. Heartfelt, soulful and deeply personal. A "message smuggled across the border, carried by love, space, time and never-ending creative power." (Eva Svensson)<br/><br/><b>Lira Gillar! </b>"Det hela är oavbrutet intressant. Att höra Esbjörn Svensson efter alla dessa år gör mig både rörd och glad." (Ulf Johansson, Lira)<br/>Esbjörn Svenssons HOME.S. hyllas i världspressen!<br/>"Esbjörn Svensson, utan kompisarna Dan Berglund och Magnus Öström, tar ut svängarna på ett delvis annat sätt. Han låter pianospelet omväxlande svälla ut i något som närmar sig den klassiska musikens pianokonserter, omväxlande vända sig inåt i en vackert jazzig melankoli som, med vetskap om hans bortgång, förlänas en gripande sorgkant." (Dan Backman, SvD)<br/><br/>"Itimacy, serenity and majestic clarity." -Télérama (FR)<br/><br/>"A gift from heaven." -Politiken (DK)<br/><br/>"These inventive deliberations are very much his own, ranging from sublime stillness to eruptive vivaciousness.... A delight" -The Scotsman (GB)<br/><br/>"A real discovery, this solo album by the man who is still regarded as one of the most influential pianists of recent decades.'' -De Volkskrant (NL)<br/><br/>"Buoyant, capricious, sweepingly melodic" -The Guardian (GB)<br/><br/><b>Esbjörn Svenssons "HOME.S." från Actmusic är ett av årets bästa jazzalbum 2022, enligt The Guardian!</b> "Between the mid-1990s and his tragic accidental death in 2008, the Swedish pianist/composer Esbjörn Svensson gave classy piano-trio jazz an enthralling stadium-rock drama and drive. These delicate unaccompanied piano pieces, unreleased until now, show a contrastingly private Svensson - but with just the same vivid imagination and subtlety of touch." (John Fordham, The Guardian)

Landgren Nils: Christmas with my friends VI 2018 [Digipack / CD]

Gustafsson Rigmor: Come home 2019 [Digipack / CD]