So, as I wrote from my mobile phone I got a last minute gig in Salzburg on Thursday evening. I got the call at five and had to hurry to a train that left Vienna an hour later. I arrived in Salzburg at eight and we were scheduled to start playing half an hour after this. Luckily we didn’t start on time, so I had a chance to eat some Goulash, try the borrowed baritone saxophone and take a quick glance at the notes before we went up on stage.

When I got there I understood that I were playing with a band called SK Invitational, lead by electric bass player Stephan Kondert, in a really nice club named Jazzit. It wasn’t a big band gig as I first thought, it was more or less a hip-hop gig with a compressed big band together with a singer and rappers. Setting was three saxophones, two trumpets, one trombone, violin, two guitars, bass, keys and two drum sets (I probably have missed something!).

The gig went well, there were lot’s of people in the audience and the atmosphere really was on top! I really had to concentrate to get all the syncopated sixteen notes right, but I think I did a fairly good job considering the circumstances. The band really sounded great, really groovy and fun both listening to and play with, and I must say I was very pleasantly surprised, thinking we’re playing a normal big band gig and then end up in something completely different.

After the gig we hanged around and had some beers together, in my case also while waiting for the night train back to Vienna. It left at 02.18 and arrived in Vienna at 6 o’clock in the morning. I got a little sleep on the train, although I was waking up every 5 minutes. Finally home I went to bed and slept until 13.00. There you have it, an Austrian last minute adventure. A good one.

I’m back in Austria after my visit to Sweden and the gig at New Sound Made festival. I really enjoyed to be home and see all friends again, and to hear a lot of them at the festival, there were quite a few really nice musical moments during the three days.

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t the best, but although the air was cold, it still was outweighed by the warm atmosphere of the festival, both among the musicians and the audience.

Our gig with Blue Corners was good, unfortunately I myself had a bit of a fever and was pretty dizzy during the gig, and since we were playing outside in the freezing cold combined with a pretty bad stage sound, the conditions could have been better.

Despite this we still had a good time playing and came up with some special moments. Unfortunately we ran out of time and had to shorten out program a bit, we did three tunes that got a bit longer than planned, and had to finish everything off with a very shortened version of one of the bandleader Morgan’s beautiful ballads, and take our planned last number out.

Not a bad decision though, Morgan featured this ballad beautifully and it felt good finishing our set off this way, especially since the rest of the concert became pretty powerful, and as an effect of the bad stage sound also became a bit unvaried dynamically.

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It was fun to see how fast I got into the “normal life” again, except for the fact that I tended to think a bit more in English and German this time, answering with yeah and greeting people with hallo! on first impulse.

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I missed Zlatan’s big show in the Serie A-finals, It started fifteen minutes after I boarded the plane. I’m definitely not missing his show in Euro 2008. Is that gold I smell?

Yesterday I played with the Uni Big Band on the Wiener Stadfest (Vienna City Feast). The day didn’t start that good, I woke up and felt I were about to get migraine. Some times I can manage to stop it with some aspirins, and luckily this was one of those days.

The gig it self took place at Judenplatz (Jewish Square), a beautiful and of course historically important square in the middle of Vienna. There were lot’s of people listening while we played, and they seemed to enjoy the concert. I enjoyed playing, the band sounded really great and the inspiration was on top!

This was my first outdoor gig this year and the weather couldn’t have been better. The sun seemed to be aiming straight at the saxophone section, which was perfect! I really don’t like playing outside when it’s cold, holding a piece of metal then really isn’t my cup of tea. I even got a bit sunburned while playing, and since red is a nice color I’m happy!

Last Thursday we played with the band Moontrane at Club Ost here in Vienna. The setting of the band is three saxophones, voice/piano, bass and drums. This was the premiere gig for this band and looking back on it I think it went well. I’m not totally pleased with my own performance, my solo playing felt a bit rushed sometimes this evening, but the overall band performance was sweet!

We played some different jazz standards arranged by the musicians of the band, and some more funkier tunes. I arranged the songs Moontrane by Woody Shaw and In Walked Bud by Thelonius Monk. It was a bit challenging arranging for this particular setting but I think it turned out ok!

I’ve played twice before at Club Ost and it’s a great place. All three times I’ve played there it’s been lots of people in the audience and a really good atmosphere. Unfortunately I had to turn down a gig there next month since I’m in Sweden playing at New Sound Made, so maybe this was my last gig at Ost before I’m moving home again. Time will tell.

Halfway into tonights session I left and took a late train home to Vienna. You always sleep better in your own bed. Our concert before the session went well, even though the acoustics weren’t optimal; a cellar completely in stone. Our band sound this evening can be sum up in one word: Strong.

A noteworthy detail was the 8 women with pens and papers in the front row. Either the whole jazz police force where there taking notes, or it was an art class. Please only choose one of the availible options.

A big trial for me, as the football freak I am, was that during soundcheck Cameroon vs. Sudan from the African Cup of Nations were shown on a big TV-screen on the wall in front of me. A bit distracting! Luckily enough, during the concert a tall guy placed himself right in the firing line so to speak. Maybe it was just as well, considering the form Samuel Eto’o is showing right now.

Now: Good night!

Here’s the link to Swedish TV4:s nyhetsmorgon where I played with Patrick El-Hag.

It was very nice playing there, interesting to see how the studio looks like and how everything is done. The breakfast buffet that I had heard so much about really stood up to the expectations, and the reception from the personnel from the moment you stepped in through the door was very professional. Hard not to like it when everything works and is the way you want it to be!

The early morning was pretty heavy though, I managed to sleep for two hours before the taxi arrived at 03.30. After the broadcast I jumped straight into the next taxi to get to a three hour rehearsal with Jerry the Cupboard at 08.45, which I missed with two minutes. It was hard keeping the concentration up during the whole rehearsal considering my absent of beauty-sleep. Also a bit unusual that when the rehearsal started around 9, I had already been up for around six hours. When did that happen at a morning rehearsal before? Answer: Never.

Straight after the rehearsal I went home, had a sushi, put on the TV, and fell asleep in the couch before I even had chosen a channel.

Last Friday we played with Fabulous Five in Grünewaldsalen (the Grünewald hall) at Stockholm Concert Hall (Stockholms Konserthus). The concert series is called soppkonserter, soup concerts, and is a very nice event. The audience arrives, have a soup, and for dessert a concert is served, this time the very tasty Fabulous Five (Ooh, I’m clever today). All seats for eating guests were sold out, and also lot’s of people were sitting on the balcony, where you could sit if you didn’t want to eat.

We had a blast playing this gig, and it felt like a really good concert. As a bonus, the acoustics were amazing! We never had better sound, everyone heard each other exceptionally well, and this without any monitors or micing except for the concert grand piano, which by the way was the best instrument that Rasmus ever had the pleasure of playing on.

We only had 5 records left from the last pressing, and they were sold immediately. Sadly enough, there were many more who wanted to buy a record, that had to go home empty-handed. Of course this was a bit unfortunate, but still a good review for us!

It really was a pleasure to meet and play with the band again, last time was in the end of May I think. Since then I have, which you may have noticed, moved to Vienna and Ludwig to Los Angeles, so it really was great seeing everyone again!

Oh yes, my first gig in Vienna went well and was fun! I was guesting a band called Bluesky, and we played at club Cenario. We rehearsed on the soundcheck the same day, and it turned out to be a pretty fun band. Two singers, a guy and a girl, a mixture of jazz and pop and a lot of improvisation. I especially liked the singer Harald, he did some cool scat solos.

My role in this was pretty easy, I played solos. It was fun and it went well. The only minus was that it was hard to play when people smoked. I’m not used to that and in the beginning I got very dry in my throat, which resulted in less control over my horn, but then I started drinking extra much water, and after that it got better.

To conclude I’m uploading some ego-pics capturing some of the action. Suits pretty good, after all it’s my blog!

Swedish newspaper Corren published today a small article about the concert of Fabulous Five that’s broadcasted in the Swedish Radio P2’s show Club Jazz tonight, Friday, at 10pm. The article you find here!

OK, time to bring out your calendars! September 14th at 10pm it is time to tune in to Swedish Radio P2 and the show Club Jazz. More specific, this is when they broadcast the concert of Fabulous Five, which we did at jazz club Fasching in Stockholm earlier this year. Would be a pity to miss, could be fun! I think the show will be available on the Internet for a month after the show, if you can’t catch it “live”. I’ll get back to you on this.