This year’s edition of Stockholm Jazz Festival just swung through the Swedish capital for over a week, transforming it into one huge, pulsating music scene. The festival drew a record-breaking crowd of 26,300 visitors with it’s 37 stages and almost 170 concerts. Krull did not lose an occasion to swing along with it, indulging in the great tunes filling the stages of Fasching, Kulturhuset and Södra Teatern.
The African diaspora’s heritage was represented by a variety of vibrant artists, from the opening night’s poignant Fatoumata Diawara, to enchanting performances of renowned artists such as Ethiopian Hailu Mergia and American Meshell Ndegeocello. You’ve read our feature on Fatoumata Diawara. Now take a look at some of the festival’s other memorable moments captured in our photo story.
Sons of Kemet blew us away with the power of their wind instruments supported by a raging percussion. Hailing from the melting pot of London, the band threw the public right into the eye of a musical fusion cyclone. Named after the ancient Egyptian god, the adventurous quartet filled their performance with tunes from electrifying jazz, to rock and funk, all blended with influences stretching from the Caribbean and New Orleans to klezmer music. The charismatic front man Shabaka Hutchings on sax and clarinet stunned us even more with his outstanding sense of fashion.
A drizzly Sunday evening was converted into an almost mystical experience with the presence of Meshell Ndegeocello. This multitalented artist gave a concentrated and heartfelt performance. Apart from her own repertoire, she also threw in such iconic pearls as Nina Simone’s ‘’ Please Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’’ and ‘’Turn Me On’’ and a brilliant and moving arrangement of Prince’s ‘’Purple Rain.’’ Her pulsating bass and wide-spectrum voice left the audience in awe.
Next on the list was Hailu Mergia, an Ethiopian pianist, whose personal story is real film-ready material. From being one of the leading artists in Ethiopia with his Walias Band, this acclaimed musician was pushed into exile in the U.S. and into earning his living as a taxi driver. He continued making music in his cellar. Little did he know that fortune would once again shine on him when he was rediscovered by Brian Shimkovitz from the Awesome Tapes From Africa label. The joy of this music veteran radiated through his performance, when he gave it his all on the classical piano, key board, accordion and melodica.
Alfredo Rodriguez took Fasching on a trip to the tropical heat of Havana. The piano virtuoso presented his pulsating, deconstructed versions of Cuban standards such as ‘’Guantanamera’’ and brought his heritage into a broader context with the voice of the Indian singer Ganavya Doraiswamy. His concert was definitely a showcase of a mature musician whose musical influences extend through a variety of styles. The magic moment of the evening was his homage to Yemaya-the goddess of the seas from the Afro-Cuban religion santería.
Nils Tull aka Melo brought his mellifluous, buttery northern lights flavored soul to open for BJ The Chicago Kid who took Kägelbanan to Church with his high-energy, sweat-inducing, old-school R&B style. The crowd could not get enough.
And Cory Henry & the Funk Apostles finished it all off with his sold-out show of non-stop funk, literally shaking the floors of Fasching!
Sveriges Radio P2 aired live broadcasts from many of the concerts in the Stockholm Jazz Festival and you can listen to them here: http://sverigesradio.se/sida/avsnitt/793989?programid=4427
words WERONIKA PÉREZ BORJAS
photos ANDREA DAVIS KRONLUND
KRULL thanks Stockholm Jazz Festival and Ebba Lindqvist PR
