MP3: Jonas Knutsson & Mats Öberg - Jagad i hissen
Yesterday I mentioned that my daily listening of late has been mostly crust and jazz and I posted an example of the former. Today, you get the latter.
I've expressed admiration for both Jonas Knutsson and Mats Öberg before on these pages, but I don't think I've ever heard the two old friends play together until receiving a copy of the new live duet album on Country & Eastern. According to the minimal liner notes, the two have known each other since 1981 when Jonas was 16 and doing a recording for the local radio station in Umeå. Mats, then 10 years old, was asked how he liked the music and he commented, "Fine, but the three-line E on the piano is out of tune..." For anyone already familiar with Mats' musical abilities, this should come as no surprise. He's a phenomenal talent, perfect pitch or not; it shines through even when I witnessed him performing casually at his brother's wedding this past summer. Get him on a record like this and it's even more obvious. Jonas is no slouch either, his "Horn please!" album from last year is a beautiful extension of Jan Johansson's folk-jazz tradition and consistently gets regular play in my household. Together, the best thing about Jonas and Mats playing together is how fun it sounds. That's one revelation of the duo format - it's much more a conversation between two friends than any sort of virtuostic showpiece. Especially on "Jagad i hissen" ("Fugitive in the elevator" so says Google). Even if bits of the music may seem a bit hard to follow, hopefully the laughter at the end will cue you in to the true intent. Sometimes it might seem like they're having a private conversation, but they really do want to let you in on the joke.
Reading comprehension time: provided you made it this far, I've got something extra to give you. Country & Eastern sent me an additional copy of the aforementioned "Horn please!" CD, so I'm going to give it away. Leave a comment on this post and you're eligible. The winner will be announced in a day or so.
Jonas Knutsson & Mats Öberg - Jagad i hissen