Biggest topic of course: I’ve moved back to Sweden again, after a very nice year in Austria. Being home feels very good, I’ve been lucky enough to get things going pretty fast after I came back, musically as well as privately, and I’m very optimistic about the future as well.

The fact that my German has significantly improved is one of the things I’m taking with me from Austria, it feels great to, although far from perfect, be able to communicate in a new language, and I’m taking every chance I get.

A big event for me down there was the Euro 2008, the atmosphere was amazing and I walked on clouds during the weeks of football this summer. Hangin’ around in the Vienna fanzone really was something special. Unfortunately it wasn’t the best year for Sweden, but looking back on the final results of the tournament, our group really wasn’t an easy one. I’m glad the winners were Spain though, something I forecasted before the tournament (Yes I know, hard to prove that now, you just have to take my word for it!), although I didn’t bet any money on it.

Musically there’s lots to remember, all the get-togethers and concerts with Vienna Jazz Composers, our gigs with Beate Wiesinger, all the long rehearsals (!) and concerts with Moontrane and all the other bands I played with once in a while. I also remember the saxophone lessons with my good friend and teacher Klaus Dickbauer and the friday morning sessions with piano player Erwin Smith.

Me & Tony after the show

One gig in particular that I’m gonna remember is the one with Lungau Big Band featuring Incognito lead singer Tony Momrelle on the big stage at fan zone Salzburg, the day before the Euro 2008 final. Playing the lead alto together with this great big band and with this totally amazing singer is something that really meant a lot to me and, together with other experiences, showed that it’s possible to move somewhere else and still get the chance to play some great music, which in the end made me believe more in myself and what I’m doing.

Now back in Sweden I’ve got plans to start a band of my own and have started composing music, which feels both exciting and scary since I haven’t composed music in a pretty long while. I really look forward to this though. This is part of my examination project at the Royal college of music, and will hopefully end up into my examination concert upcoming spring. Stay tuned for updates on this!

We really had a great evening at Underbara Bar yesterday, the spirit within this band is fantastic and it’s a pleasure every time we meet, on stage as well as private. All clubs so far have been great, we have played our asses off every time and the guest artists have been marvelous, but I still think we managed to top it off last night.

In contrast to the great evening, the day didn’t start to good. Our drummer Sebastian took a taxi with his drums to the gig, but didn’t get very far before they were hit by another car. Luckily nobody gut hurt, but it’s always shocking when a thing like that happens, and it makes you think what actually could have happened.

Despite the circumstances we still finished our sound check on time, with some invaluable help from Stefan Hansson who kindly set us up with some sweet sound this evening.

The concept of Club Neighbourhood is that we, Kristian Persson Neighbourhood, play one set of funky, soulful instrumental tunes written by Kristian Persson, followed by a second set with a guest artist, last night singer Mattias Andréasson (dmaSOUL).

Our first set really was a blast, we had so much fun playing. All tendencies to autumn depression were quickly cured with the amount of endorphins rushing through my body, that’s for sure! With that start the second set almost played itself, we just kept on surfing the wave we had started in the first. Mattias and his choir, Joel Humlén & Linda Stenmark did a great job, fantastic singing, and Mattias really writes some great tunes!

Would also like to send a big thank you to Joakim Simonsson who, in a wonderful way, substituted for Edvin on the piano.

The atmosphere of the evening was really nice, everyone seemed to enjoy the show, and the gathering of some great friends afterwards really topped it off. Thanks to all of you!

Listen to the music of Neighbourhood here, and the music of Mattias Andréasson here.

Underbara Bar, Östgötagatan 33, Stockholm.
Club opens 19.30, music starts 20.30.
Cost: 80 SEK, students 50 SEK.

Listen to the music of Mattias: www.myspace.com/dmasoul
Listen to the music of Neighbourhood: www.myspace.com/kriztyano

On Wednesday, 5th of November, it’s once again time for the number one soul club in Stockholm, Club Neighbourhood, at Underbara Bar.

This time we have invited the great vocalist Mattias Andréasson (aka dmaSoul) to join us. As always we start the evening off with an instrumental set with the music of Kristian Persson Neighbourhood, followed by a set together with Mattias.

Neighbourhood is:
Jens Filipsson - Saxophones
Jonne Bentlöv - Trumpet
Kristian Persson - Trombone
Joakim Simonsson - Keys
Sebastian Ågren - Drums
Aleks Brdarski - Electric Bass

Listen to the music of Mattias: www.myspace.com/dmasoul
Listen to the music of Neighbourhood: www.myspace.com/kriztyano

Underbara Bar, Östgötagatan 33, Stockholm.
Club opens 19.30, music starts 20.30.
Cost: 80 SEK, students 50 SEK.

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.

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.

* * * * *
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?

On Wednesday New Sound Made Festival starts and runs until Friday. We’re playing with Blue Corners on the big outside stage at 18.50 on Friday. Don’t miss it!

I’m going high-tech in this post and throw in two pictures from a gig with Blue Corners at Jazzclub Fasching last year. Now I only have to find my passport and I’m ready to go.

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!