V.Sjoberg New Jazz Ensemble

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Brett on Thu 23 Sep, 2010.

Viktor Sjoberg looks a dapper chap.. I'm assuming it's him on the cover, like. And he talks a good game too, proselytising on how formulaic the notion of 'free jazz' has become over the years and how he'd like to try and open that shit up. I guess you'd have to say he's succeeded at least to some degree in achieving that, given that I'm struggling for touchstones for his sound which utilises traditional jazz instruments, quite often sounding reasonably dry and unprocessed, in combination with field recordings and droney ambience to create something pretty singular. I guess maybe a lighter Bohren & Der Club of Gore might be a very vague comparison and there've been occasional moments in Supersilent's output that you could almost compare to it, but this seems far more reflective and mindful of tradition.. Not in a retrogressive sort of way, more that it successfully creates a dialogue between jazz past and the ambient scene that's popular right now. And apart from all that it's super relaxing too!

Viktor Sjöberg (b. 1981) has been quite busy the last couple of years. Beside his intensive touring as a core member of Jens Lekmans live band, he has recorded solo albums and worked with other projects. One of these projects being this band: V.Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble.

Viktor describes the band like this:

"In 2005 I named this constellation the V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble. In a conversation that I once had with Douglas Holmquist, one of the original members of the V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble, he reflected on the fact that “free jazz” in the Ornette Coleman-sense was sort of followed by an implicit exclamation mark and that this exclamation mark seem to have evaporated as the phrase went from being a call to arms into being a description of something formulaic and institutionalized.
The reasons behind forming this group, the V. Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble, and calling it a New Jazz Ensemble isn’t really about something as catchphrase-friendly as “bringing that exclamation mark back!” It is just a humble comment on the sad fact that a lot of the time the word jazz is very limiting, both in the mind of the consumer and from the point of view of the musician/producer. It shouldn’t have to be, you know?"

Lover Man is the second album from V.Sjöberg New Jazz Ensemble. The first being the criticially acclaimed "Do nothing til you hear from me" which was released on iDeal recordings a couple of years ago. That one was roughly described as acoustic drone jazz. However "Lover Man" is another kind of album, not as much in its approach to the jazz genre as in its musical output. The sound has grown in every possible way.

Viktor himself tells us this about the album:

"The ‘Lover man project’ is based around the song “Lover man” as
written by Jimmy Davis, Ram Ramirez and Jimmy Sherman. It was written for Billie Holiday and although her version might still be considered to be the most popular, it soon became the jazz standard that it is to this day.
Through performing "Lover man" we shall study the concept of freedom. Is it really all that free?"

Released as a vinyl LP limited to 275 copies.

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!