Jonas Wall Umbaji
A melting pot of strong melodies, rich harmonies, improvisation, and hard beats: swing, emotions, and energy in something completely new – this is Umbaji. After many years as a band member in Nils Landgren's Funk Unit and with Mezzoforte, this is the saxophonist Jonas Wall's own project. He has handpicked all the band members to form a constellation where creativity can thrive in abundance. All are Scandinavians from Sweden, Iceland, and Denmark, many of them also colleagues from Mezzoforte.
Jonas Wall himself has been a freelance musician for more than 30 years. He has played with The Jazz Crusaders, Brian Wilson, Bill Champlin, Clarence Clemmons, Frank McComb, and several other international and Swedish artists and orchestras. In addition to five albums released under his own name, Jonas Wall has contributed to many other releases as an instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer, and mixer.
In Umbaji, he presents completely newly written music that he has composed together with the Copenhagen-based trumpeter Ari Bragi Kárason. The idea for Umbaji was born in childhood when Jonas grew up in a multicultural household. His father Håkan taught the children songs in other languages, such as Swahili, hence the name of Jonas' new project.
"In my compositions, you find elements of many different genres, such as harmonies, rhythms, beats, melodies, and improvisations from jazz, hip-hop, soul, pop, and R&B. Just like in our society, we recycle and create something new through our music. We want to reuse the melting pot of music that already exists, but at the same time include, engage, inspire, spark curiosity, and create something new."
Line-up:
Jonas Wall (Mezzoforte, Nils Landgren Funk Unit) - Saxophones
Ari Bragi Kárason (Mezzoforte) - Trumpet
Eythor Gunnarsson (Mezzoforte) - Keys
Simon Löfstedt - Guitar
Thomas Lindberg - Bass
Mårgan Höglund - Drums
8:00 PM
Hallo, ich bin Maya.
