LARS DANIELSSON SOLO

Nordic jazz legend Lars Danielsson returns to Paliesius Manor—this time with a solo program you will not hear anywhere else! The jazz star will play both double bass and cello in the “Pasaga” concert hall. This is a rare opportunity to meet the Swedish musician and experience truly special music.

Danish double bass legend Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen left the world not only an impressive jazz legacy—he also inspired a modern-day jazz luminary. When the young Swedish musician Lars Danielsson once heard Pedersen in concert, he was so captivated that he decided to take up jazz and the double bass. Until then, Danielsson, born in Gothenburg in 1958, had been studying classical cello at his hometown conservatory. Fortunately, he chose not to abandon his cello studies, weaving them instead into his current musical journey. Not only does the musician consistently include the cello in his repertoire, but his double bass playing also distinguishes itself, unfolding with a touch more melody, gentleness, and lyricism than that of his peers.

It was precisely these unique qualities that soon made him internationally sought after as an accompanying musician. As early as the 1980s, he worked with Swedish and European luminaries such as Lars Jansson, Hans Ulrik, Carsten Dahl, Nils Landgren, Christopher Dell, Johannes Enders, and Trilok Gurtu (remaining a member of the latter’s group for quite some time). He also collaborated with American stage stars, including saxophonists Rick Margitza and Charles Lloyd, the Brecker brothers, drummers Terri Lyne Carrington, Jack DeJohnette, and Billy Hart, and guitarists John Scofield, Mike Stern, and John Abercrombie. Yet, the role of an accompanist was never enough for Danielsson. He always possessed a true composer’s instinct, and today he stands among the relatively few double bassists to have become significant bandleaders.

For nearly twenty years, Danielsson’s greatest vehicle for musical expression was his own all-star quartet, featuring American saxophonist David Liebman (who previously played with Miles Davis), Swedish pianist Bobo Stenson, and Norwegian drummer Jon Christensen. Stenson and Christensen are both pioneers of the “Nordic sound”—a seamless blend of jazz and the Scandinavian ethos—and are longtime ECM recording artists. The four quartet albums released under Danielsson’s name, alongside six more guest-featuring albums, solidified his reputation as one of Europe’s premier jazz musicians, earning not only enthusiastic reviews but numerous awards. This collective also laid the foundation for his work as a composer, arranger, and producer, a pursuit that has flourished ever since. Danielsson has worked in these three capacities with the Danish Radio Concert Orchestra, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Bigband, the St. Petersburg Symphony Orchestra, and the JazzBaltica Ensemble, as well as with drummer Jonas Johansen and singers Viktoria Tolstoy and Cæcilie Norby—the latter being his wife, with whom he frequently performs.

Over recent years, Lars Danielsson has broadened his musical horizons and the stylistic spectrum of his projects. His debut on the ACT label, the 2004 album “Libera Me”, proved his mastery of orchestral jazz. Released two years later, “Mélange Bleu” surprised listeners with a modern, meticulously tailored electronic structure that beautifully complemented his expansive, sonically daring, and rich compositions. With his 2007 release “Pasodoble”, an album created alongside Polish pianist Leszek Możdżer, he delivered a breathtaking sonic manifesto that fused jazz and classical music to tremendous critical acclaim. In his 2009 album “Tarantella”, continuing his collaboration with Możdżer, these musical ideas were transposed into the intimate context of a chamber jazz ensemble. All of these albums (as well as subsequent releases) achieved gold or platinum status, while his orchestral project “Blauklang”, initiated by him and co-conducted with Vince Mendoza, earned a Grammy nomination.

In a sense, Danielsson found the essence of his varied forms of expression in 2012, discovering the perfect name for this quintessence: “Liberetto”. His newly coined word “describes a certain mood in which I wish to develop my music,” he says. “The ideas and threads from my earlier albums are continued here—both linguistically and as a reference to classical music.” The album “Liberetto”, featuring Armenian pianist Tigran, e.s.t. drummer Magnus Öström, British guitarist John Parricelli, and trumpeter Arve Henriksen, strikes a new balance between jazz, classical music, pop, and European folk, opening an entirely new dimension of compositional process and dramatic narrative in jazz. The project was so successful that it continues to this day. Following “Liberetto II”, recorded in close duo collaboration with Tigran, and “Liberetto III” with the aforementioned quartet, a fresh, distinct shade emerged: at the Leopolis Jazz Fest, Martinique pianist Grégory Privat and Danielsson premiered a symphonic version of this concept and its dedicated compositions. A recording of this project will also be released in the near future.

Naturally, Danielsson still finds time for other captivating projects: he participates in the unique concert series “Jazz at the Berlin Philharmonic” and works in a duo with Sardinian trumpeter Paolo Fresu, one of the most lyrical trumpeters of all time. Their joint album “Summerwind” once again reveals what makes Danielsson so extraordinary: his technical mastery, his vivid and inexhaustible musical imagination, and his almost telepathic understanding of his fellow musicians.