When I was 14, I started going to jazz clubs. That's a good age to start a lifetime commitment. In my case, it was a very good age since Dexter Gordon was still alive and I could go to Copenhagen and see him at the legendary club Montmartre which was still open (it closed in 1974). And I went to Gothenburg's old club Jazz Artdur once. There were two groups: Bobo Stenson Trio and Opposite Corner which was the same trio but with two horns added. The sax player was Gunnar Lindgren. Bobo and Gunnar have played together since then, (although not too often after Bobo quit Opposite Corner, round 1971) but I have not heard them together since then. 
And this is a unique line-up. Four For Coltrane is playing their third gig ever tonight. The opportunity to hear Bobo Stenson play this kind of repertoir, quite different from what his doing in his own trio today, is also unique. 
This is where I'm supposed to say: "I'm proud to present..." and in my case I really AM proud. When I was down there in the small basement club Jazz Artdur, I had no idea that I one day would have the honour to represent, and present, these musicians!

His performance in Eslöv was charismatic and powerful, showing that this man is still going strong, in fact stronger than ever. The only minus was that the arrangers did not have a spare guitar amp. A blown fuse put an end to the gig a couple of songs earlier than planned. No encores of course, just a slightly irritated artist that swore that he would bring his own amp the next time.

Jeff "Tain" Watts' drumming is very powerful, yet so sensitive. He is extremely melodic and inventive, adding lots of unexpected accents and licks in response to the other players and to the compositions themselves. His way of playing the more funky grooves of the third tune, "16th Street Baptist Church" from Requiem (1999) is both intriguing and exciting. And Branford Marsalis is getting a wonderful bright and clear tone out of his tenor, never screaming, but constantly singing with musical joy. The joyfulness is everywhere to be found, also in the amused faces of all four musicians who are frequently smiling at each other as a part of their musical communication on stage.

Gloomy Sunday was played in such a clean and simple way, and loaded with emotions, deep, soulful, never leaving the essence of the song, that gloomy, somewhat melancholic, Sunday morning mood. Giving one of the strongest audience responses of the whole show (besides the roaring applause that produced an encore, giving the one-set concert a length of about 100 minutes). In this song, Tain displayed his whole range of dynamics, from ultra-light to the roaring thunder towards the end. 

Branford Marsalis says in an interview that he chose to record mostly ballads for his latest album Eternal after somebody wrote to him that his music had made her/him cry and he had not realized until then that jazz could have that effect. I would not be surprised of his interpretation of Gloomy Sunday produced a few tears…

Joey Calderazzo is free from obvious role models and influences. Very present just like everybody else in the band, he gives us fluid playing with impulsive breaks and mood changes. Not shying away from clean beatiful playing, without ever sounding too "sweet". Eric Revis' bass playing is very solid but also elastic, strong but subtle, steady but extremely flexible, fitting this quartet as a glove. Technically advanced passages, such as the walking line in the first tune of the show that I referred to above as "running", being performed with total ease … "A breeze" it seems to be for him, to play in such an exhilarating tempo.

"An evening with the BMQ " turned out to be filled with musical joy. Magic! Delightful! Excellent! Enough said. This is simply one of the best groups today! And their concert was truly outstanding!

He was followed by WonderBrazz, five Danes plus Swedish trombone player Ola Åkerman, doing funky grooves with the unusual line-up of three horns, a Hammond organ and two stand-up drummers. Martin Seidelin took care of the bass drum and Esben Duus had the snare. The music was funky in the Tower Of Power direction - less slick and more rootsy, and with a great deal of humour. 
And the audience, still enthusiastic, managed to do something that's extremely difficult: to sit down, almost still (maybe wiggling their toes, or ears?) while the music is swinging like you-know-what. Not easy, but many Swedish audiences have practised this to perfection... 
Well, after having heard three bands (including Miriam Aïda's tribute to Monica Zetterlund) maybe we have to excuse them, they might just have been too tired...
www.wonderbrazz.com

That might be the reason why the band was sometimes lacking the casual, relaxed mood that many groups at the top level of jazz display. (Bill Stewart Trio, see below, is a good example of a band that seemed to be enjoying every second of their performance - what's wrong with having fun when you're gigging?). At solo time, bassist Drew Gress delivered powerful stuff with great timing, showing how much of the band's groove depended on him. The drum solos by E J Strickland were less impressive, displaying more speed than groove and making the bass player's role even more obvious. Ravi has impressive great technique, but never quite dared to let go and just blow all his emotions out of his horn. The pianist Louis Perdomo, who is soon due to release a solo album on Coltrane's own label RKM, gave us some beautiful, melodic solos - although sometimes lacking in dynamics. The tight interplay is the band's strongest plus, besides interesting compositions, far away from predictabitity and mainstream boredom - on the minus side, besides the above mentioned, a certainly intellectual coldness. Anyway, the band had a cheering audience bringing it back for an encore.

Organ player Larry Goldings and pianist Kevin Hays have, just like Bill himself, been involved in many projects on the American jazz, fusion and funk scene. Names like Maceo Parker, John Scofield, Pat Metheny and James Brown absolutely helps to bring bigger audiences to the gigs. Without necessarily giving us a hint of what the music sounds like - because this group is on a higher musical level than all of those groups. If I would compare the sound to anything else, it sometimes reminds me of Tony Williams' Lifetime. The music is very dynamic, present and free from all labels and borders, letting us all share the magic of each moment. This is what keeps us coming to the jazz club - we can only experience it then and there!

The spacy interplay, going from cool to intense, from walking to funky, without a dull second, left the audience in the packed club almost breathless (except for the occasional enthusiastic screams and hollers). The compositions with funny names like "Good Goat", "How Long Is Jazz?" and "Don't Ever Call Me Again" were quite loose, serving as vehicles for the telepathic interplay rather than locking the music up in a fixed structure. And Bill Stewart's dry sense of humour put smiles on our already delighted faces: introducing "It Could Happen To You", one of very few standards, with "Can't remember who wrote it. Some old guy. Some old dead guy."
(By the way, I looked it up. Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen, whoever they were...)  
And the sense of humour and playfulness was ever present that night, not only while introducing the songs, but in the general atmosphere of musical joy and creativity that filled the room that night.

But besides Popsy's heavenly voice, the most remarkable individual output came from Wendell Holmes, whose guitar playing continued to surprise us through the whole show. This is not a conservative blues player, doing his standard licks with the majestic dignity of a "king". No, this guy is full of playfulness and mischief, having fun all the time, throwing in crazy fills between his vocal phrases, and keeping everybody's attention through his solos - sometimes long but without a dead minute.