Jens Filipsson

Neighbourhood Recording – day one

Jens — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:57:32 +0000

The now working mixing console

We have finally started to record our first album with Neighbourhood! It all started very early yesterday morning back in Stockholm, from where we started our journey to Gävle, the town where we have rented a studio for a couple of days. We only had access to one car, so some of us went with that together with all the instruments and equipment, and the others travelled by train.

Rasmus, Kristian & Jonne

After arriving in Gävle we met up with Rasmus who is our sound engineer and headed for the studio. We immediately started to rig everything up and after lunch, a pretty disgusting taco buffet, we were ready for the first take! We decided to begin with the song Fly, but after a couple of takes where the Neighbourhood wibe didn’t really come through, we realized we had to change some of the earphone settings to hopefully get a better feeling in the band.

Kristian & Jonne

Unfortunately this resulted in the discovery of a problem with the studio mixing console, and after lots of trial and error Rasmus realized he couldn’t fix this by himself, and a technician had to come down and take a look at it. Not the best of starts of course, but once the technician was done all the small details fell in place, and we could finally start working Neighbourhood style!

Aleks & Edvin

After the initial sound troubles, day one resulted in two great songs on tape. Now, after a good nights sleep over at Sebastian’s place, we’re back in the studio and ready to start working again! Stay tuned for more reports from the studio!

Kristian, Aleks & Edvin

Neighbourhood live at Fasching video

Jens — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:53:59 +0000

The gig with Neighbourhood at Jazzclub Fasching last Saturday was a huge success. Everyone in the band played their ass off, the place was totally crowded and the atmosphere couldn’t have been better! After the concert we had a great party that ended with some skinny dipping in Årstaviken in the middle of Stockholm at 6 in the morning. Greatest night in a long while!

We’re recording our first album later this month if everything goes according to plan. I’ll keep you posted on that as soon as I’ve got any news to share!

We’re right now working on some videos from the concert, but while you wait for that you can already enjoy this one that a nice person in the audience shot! We’re playing the song Blow My Mind which was the encore of the evening. Enjoy!

Other blogs writing about: Aleks Brdarski, Bass, Concerts, Drums, Edvin Nahlin, Jazzclub Fasching, Jens Filipsson, Jonne Bentlöv, Keyboards, Kristian Persson, Neighbourhood, Saxophone, Sebastian Ågren, Solo, Trombone, Trumpet, Video, Youtube

Neighbourhood live at Fasching tomorrow!

Jens — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 13:26:13 +0000

If you’ve never visited Jazz Club Fasching before, tomorrow is the day! We’re playing an awesome, energetic, funky set with Neighbourhood, and after us the evening continues with Stockholm’s best soul club, one hell of a party that goes on all night long!

The music of Neighbourhood is a mind-blowing and energetic mix of jazz, funk and soul. Their repertoire offers a wide spectrum of hard-hitting and funky songs to soft and gentle love ballads. Their influences reach back to the happy days of the JB´s and Herbie Hancock’s Headhunters and forward to the modern neo-soul of RH Factor and Soulive. Neighbourhood are planning to release their debut album during fall of 2009.

Check out the Neighbourhood Myspace if you want to hear some of our music, and come to Fasching tomorrow! We promise one crazily energetic set, it will be impossible to stand still!

Saturday 8th of August. The doors open at 21.00 and we start playing at 22.00. Welcome!

Neighbourhood is:

Kristian Persson – Trombone
Jens Filipsson – Saxophones and Flute
Jonne Bentlöv – Trumpet and Flügelhorn
Edvin Nahlin – Keys
Aleks Brdarski – Bass
Sebastian Ågren – Drums

Other blogs writing about: Aleks Brdarski, Concerts, Edvin Nahlin, Funk, Jazz, Jazzclub Fasching, Jens Filipsson, Jonne Bentlöv, Kristian Persson, Neighbourhood, Sebastian Ågren, Soul, Stockholm

Johannes Zetterberg ‘Luna Nueva’ – review at JazzReview.com

Jens — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:49:32 +0000

I was very happy the other day when I found out that Jazz Review.com had written a very nice review of a CD that I’m participating on, bass player Johannes Zetterberg’s debut album Luna Nueva. The CD features some great guest artists like Jay Oliver, Eric Marienthal, Jason Rebello & Otmaro Ruiz, and even though it’s not my usual musical genre, I’m still very proud to be playing together with legendary musicians like these and on a CD of this quality.

The album is getting a lot of great reviews world wide, but this one from Thomas R. Erdmann over at Jazz Review.com felt a bit special since he really have captured the spirit of the album in a good way. The fact that he also seem to like my playing makes it even more fun to share with you of course… (Hey, it’s my blog, I’m allowed to boost my ego around here!).

Following are some chosen parts, read the whole review here!

For those who have been missing fusion in today’s homogenized jazz market, this new recording by Swedish born bass and keyboard player Johannnes Zetterberg is perfect. Not only are the compositions top-notch, but the assisting musicians he brings along for the ride are some of the best in the business. While some names will be familiar to jazz followers, like saxophonist Eric Marienthal and keyboardist Jay Oliver, others like guitarist Erik Linder and saxophonist Jens Filipsson may not be. Don’t let this scare you off, Zetterberg has culled some of the best Nordic musicians to accompany him and the rest is incredible.

The lovely power ballad “Luna Nueva (Only A Dream)” proves Zetterberg can spin out touching melodies as artfully as Tom Scott during his 1980s period. Filipsson’s alto sax works within the harmonic structure as he slowly builds his solo higher and higher in both tessitura and soulful expression. This young Swedish musician is someone to watch. With solid harmonic conceptualizations and full tone, his time is just about ripe to come to the world stage.

If you’re interested in buying the CD, there’s lot’s of online stores selling it, including CD Baby, iTunes and Amazon.com. You can also listen to it at Spotify!

Other blogs writing about: Reviews, CD, Johannes Zetterberg, Luna Nueva, Fusion, Jazz, Jay Oliver, Eric Marienthal, Jason Rebello, Otmaro Ruiz, Jens Filipsson, JazzReview.com, Erik Linder, Tom Scott, iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, CD Baby, Recordings

Stockholm Jazz Fest with Magdalena Konefal

Jens — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:42:52 +0000

I’ve had so much to do lately, that’s why I haven’t been writing here for a long while. I’ve also been working on a new version of this site, which takes up pretty much of the free time I have. Unfortunately my progress is pretty slow going, so it will probably take a while before I publish it online.

So, what have I been up to this summer? Well, biggest event was no doubt playing the Stockholm Jazz Fest with Magdalena Konefal. Magdalena writes some beautiful music and plays together with a very nice band, The Rebirth Station. Our horn section, Neighbourhood Horns, joined for this gig, and the result came out very well I must say. I hope we get to do more gigs together with Magdalena in the future!

It was my first time at Stockholm Jazz Fest, and hangin’ there really was a blast. The festival area is on beautiful Skeppsholmen in Stockholm, right next to the water. The weather was great the whole week, I saw some wonderful acts (Sonny Rollins, Roy Hargrove, McCoy Tyner, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gilberto Gil, Erykah Badu, Estelle, just to mention a few…), had a daily intake of good food and beer backstage, lot’s of good friends that also visited the festival and so on… Everything was perfect to be honest!

From what I understand they didn’t make a profit this year, but the arrangers still hope for another one next year. I totally fell in love with the festival and really hope there will be more of them. I think a jazz festival is something important for a big city like Stockholm, it’s a unique and very nice event that stands in good contrast to many other things happening in town.

I found these two videos on YouTube, one is from when we played Nyhetsmorgon (the morning news) in Swedish TV4 before the festival, and the other one is from the gig at the festival. Enjoy!

Magdalena Konefal – Thinking About You – Live in TV4 Nyhetsmorgon

Magdalena Konefal – Teach Me – Live at Stockholm Jazz Fest

Other blogs writing about: Magdalena Konefal, Rebirth Station, Stockholm Jazz Fest, TV4, Nyhetsmorgon, Neighbourhood horns, Sonny Rollins, Roy Hargrove, McCoy Tyner, Bill Frisell, Mike Stern, Meshell Ndegeocello, Gilberto Gil, Erykah Badu, Estelle, YouTube

Joshua Redman

Jens — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:16:08 +0000

This video of Joshua Redman Elastic Band, featuring amazing Sam Yahel on keys and one of my favorite drummers of all time, Brian Blade, is a clip I found the first time when I studied at Fridhems Folkhögskola, something like 5 years ago. I loved it and listened to it over and over again.

The way Joshua builds his solo, and the backup from Yahel and Blade is nothing but amazing. Talk about being in the groove! This clip would be amazing with just audio, but to actually see it on video adds another dimension. Especially watching Brian Blade, is it possible not to love this man after watching this video?

Only sad thing about the clip is that it fades out in the end, before the solo is over, I would love to hear where they go next!

I’ve had the opportunity to see Joshua live a few times:

In Göteborg with Kurt Rosenwinkel: Kurt Rosenwinkel – guitar, Joshua Redman – saxophone, Aaron Goldberg – piano, Larry Grenadier – acoustic bass, Ali Jackson, drums.
With his own trio at Porgy & Bess, Vienna: Joshua Redman – saxophone, Omer Avital – bass, Greg Hutchinson – drums.
Once again with his trio at Umeå Jazz Festival: Joshua Redman – saxophone, Reuben Rogers – acoustic bass, Brian Blade – drums.

For me, the best concert out of these three was the concert together with Kurt Rosenwinkel in Göteborg. Everyone in the band played fantastic and I really liked the way Joshua and Kurt complemented each other, and with the backup of that fantastic band the concert was one of the best concerts I have ever visited!

This band also made a record later in the name of Kurt Rosenwinkel, called Deep Song, which is a record I love and always come back to. Great playing and songs, and the sound of the record is totally amazing, it’s not always jazz records are as well mixed as this one.

Oops, got a bit carried away there. Anyhow, here’s the great video that I initially wanted to write about in this post. I really hope I get the chance to see Joshua Redman with his Elastic Band live sometime in the future, let’s hope they take it up again sometime soon! Enjoy!

Other blogs writing about: Joshua Redman, Elastic Band, Sam Yahel, Brian Blade, Fridhems Folkhögskola, Youtube, Video, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Deep Song, Aaron Goldberg, Larry Grenadier, Ali Jackson, Omer Avital, Greg Hutchinson, Reuben Rogers

(Here’s a link to intressant.se, hopefully this will help people finding this post easier.)

Neighbourhood youtube video

Usual Suspects recording

Jens — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 18:00:47 +0000

Some photos from a day in the studio with my band Usual Suspects, where we recorded some of my new tunes. The recording took place on March 21 2009, and you can listen to the result of the day in the player on the music page!

Other blogs writing about: Recordings, Usual Suspects, Photo Gallery

Rehearsals yesterday

Jens — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:26:50 +0000

Had a rehearsal yesterday with a youth big band in Uppsala, which I’m gonna join as guest soloist on a concert on Sunday. I was pretty tired after a long day of rehearsals in Stockholm, so my playing maybe wasn’t on top, but the band sounded great with lot’s of talented kids in the band, and I think the concert on Sunday will be a good one!

Before I went there, we rehearsed for my examination concert next week with my new band Usual Suspects, our first rehearsal since the recording we did a month ago. Edvin, the piano player, and Efraim, the guitar player, just came back after a trip to Africa where they mostly have played drums, so everyone seemed to be excited to be back on their own instruments again. I think the concert on Tuesday will be a good one, I brought some new tunes to complement the material we already have, and they turned out to work great in the band. We have two rehearsals left before the concert, just enough to polish the final details!

Other blogs writing about: Big Band, Guest Soloist, Uppsala, Usual Suspects, Examination Concert, Examenskonsert, Rehearsals

Samson for President

Jens — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 22:30:17 +0000

Me & Kristian Persson from Neighbourhood joined great soul singer Samson for President for a gig at Fasching. Here´s a video from the gig, enjoy!

Other blogs writing about: Samson for President, Jazzclub Fasching, Jens Filipsson, Kristian Persson, Neighbourhood, Concerts, Video

New music!

Jens — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:23:00 +0000

I have uploaded some recently recorded music with my new band Usual Suspects! You can listen to the tracks in the player on the music page. Feel free to leave a comment about it, I’d love to hear what you think!

To hear us live, you’re very welcome to attend my examination concert from the Royal College of Music in Stockholm next week. Concert is on Tuesday, the 5th of May, and we begin to play at 20.00. Another nice band will start the concert at 19.00.

I’m bringing some wine and snacks, for free and for everyone as long as it lasts, so hopefully we can have a good time together after the concert as well! Very welcome!

Directions: Take the subway to Stadion, follow signs to Musikhögskolan, concert is in Lilla Salen.

Other blogs writing about: Usual Suspects, Kungliga Musikhögskolan, Royal College of Music, Recordings, Examination Concert, Examenskonsert, Jens Filipsson, Concerts