‘Rammstein? I take that as a compliment!’ Jacob Karlzon laughs when one mentions the wonderful, often surprising, worlds of sound which he creates. Not in an ironical fashion, on the contrary. He is even delighted. Thus he laughs out loud and heartily, like only a man of his format can laugh – very loud indeed. ‘Even as child I listened to a lot of metal and electro. Although this type of music is nothing for pianists, its transported energy is, in fact, important. To listen to music that one does not make oneself opens up totally new horizons.’ Certainly, Jacob Karlzon’s horizons are wide. This pianist, who was named jazz musician of the year in his native Sweden in 2010 and who became internationally renowned for his long running collaboration with singer Viktoria Tolstoy, loves to work with extremes. This starts with his instrument whose emotional breadth ranges from fragile gentleness to a sense of mighty awe. And so Jacob Karlzon creates wonderful, large musical images with his tunes and sounds. He achieves this by employing his very own means of creation, and these are truly astounding: His music reveals brilliant technique in his play and brilliant play with his technique. Besides instrumental ability, a great imagination for modern sounds characterizes Karlzon’s music. The Swede wants to tell stories of experience and dreams; he reveals something of himself, of his delight in music and performance. With his JK3 members, Jacob Karlzon creates soundscapes of marvelous power and intensity.
