SOLO
SOLO CONCERTS
"An exclusive musical delicacy"
/Bo Borg
August Björn is a Grammis-winning pianist and composer based in Gothenburg. In recent years, he has established himself as a distinct new voice in Nordic jazz, attracting listeners beyond Sweden's borders with his unique touch and emotionally charged performances.
About the music
With a background in both jazz and classical music, August seamlessly weaves together improvisation and composition in solo performances that Mats Hallberg (Kulturbloggen) has described as "a meditative cleansing bath of stripped-back beauty." Strong melodies and rhythmic complexity meet a Nordic melancholy that places August in the tradition uniting Jan Johansson and Esbjörn Svensson. It is cinematic, intimate, and hauntingly beautiful.
He opened the concert by "getting acquainted" with the grand piano, letting the moment and the place inspire an improvisation. He made the notes flow freely and somewhat surprisingly. It was a perfect introduction. Thoughts briefly touched upon musical memories of Keith Jarrett. Others might draw associations to Esbjörn Svensson's music.
The music we heard felt complex yet accessible. It blends stylistic elements of formally structured classical music with freer jazz harmonies and improvisation. The music seemed somehow enveloped in a reflective warmth. It felt full of emotion, but without becoming overtly emotional. Rather, it possessed a subdued drama and a quiet intensity. Even in the rhythmic passages, I thought I heard a tone of melancholy as an underlying resonance.
Perhaps his music can be described as ethereal. It has a kind of reality-transcending rhetoric and touch. It feels epic, with a musical form and personal voice all its own. This concert felt like a musical opening, both outward and, above all, inward. A musical experience like this is something you carry with you for a long time.
Reviewed by Bo Borg