Göran Strandberg
Is a pianist, composer and arranger, and have worked professionally since the beginning of 1970. After attending the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, Göran studied at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Göran was a part of the legendary bass player Red Mitchell´s group Communication for many years. Another big inspiration has been the Swedish pianist and arranger Jan Johansson and his music. In 1978 he was awarded the Jan Johansson Scholarship.
Then followed collaborations and recordings with artists like Lee Konitz, Dexter Gordon, Art Farmer, Helen Merrill, Joe Newman, Thad Jones and Clark Terry.
In 1990 Göran began playing with the Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, which also ment composing and arranging music for this formidable band. This resulted in “Lakes ”(2000), ”Sailing”(2004),“I`ll be seeing you” (2008) and “Ikaros” (2009).
Göran has also worked with The Scottish National Orchestra, Estonian Dreamband and Umo Big Band (Finland). A more recent project is the “Göran Strandberg Nonet” featuring the music of Thelonius Monk. “Monk`s Mood” was released 2012.
Another ongoing project is a duo with with the percussionist Sebastian Voegler (drumset – piano). Together we’ve released the albums “Emergence” (2012) and “Going Places” (2016).
During 2018 Göran was Norrbotten Big Bands Composer in Residence. The music I composed during that year is released on the album ”Going North” (Prophone Records 2019). Göran Strandberg has so far released fourteen records.
Svante Söderqvist
The bassist, cellist and composer Svante Söderqvist, has during his more than 15 years of professional musicianship become known as one of Sweden’s most prominent jazz bassists.
Over the years he as worked with many Swedish jazz musicians, among them Rigmor Gustafsson, Margareta Bengtson (earlier in The Real Group), Nils Landgren and Magnus Lindgren. More recently he has also returned to the classical world and now has recurring freelance jobs as a classical bassist in for example Marinens Musikkår. Since 2018 Svante Söderqvist has worked with his first own ensemble where he plays both double bass and cello as well as composing the music.
Peter Danemo is a Stockholm-based drummer and composer whose music has an unerring feeling for dynamics and form. Danemo has playing professionally since the early eighties. Words like “explosive” and “unpredictable” are often used to describe his drumming, while critics have variously called the many recordings and tours he has been involved in as “forward thinking”, “creative” and “unpredictable”.
Danemo has received wide recognition for his composing skills , and has received commissions from, among others, Swedish Radio’s P2 Musik Jazzradion, Svenska Rikskonserter (The Swedish Concert Institute) and the Copenhagen Art Ensemble. In 2015, he was the composer-in-residence for the highly respected and hugely popular Norrbotten Big Band. The project led to a tour in december 2016 and the release of the CD Hedvigsnäs.
More recent commissions are from P2 Musik which resulted in chamber music for mixed ensemble called Gläntan and latest a piece for Västerås Sinfonietta and jazz quartet.