Carl Bagge
Intimate after work concert with jazz pianist and bandleader Carl Bagge at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern.
In spring 2024, Carl Bagge released Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder), the follow-up to his critically acclaimed solo debut Visitor, which came out in 2022. He continues here in the same vein as the previous album, with one foot in history and one in the future.
“How do you interpret the future—you don’t know anything about it,” says Bagge. “All I can do is play as well as I can, with all my emotion and heart. For me, history is central to the experience of music. I grew up with a musical father, Lars Bagge, and was greatly influenced by his colleagues and friends—Monica Zetterlund, Toots Thielemans, and Svante Thuresson, to name a few. In them, and in a large record collection, I found the inspiration that shaped my early years, before I met new friends and fellow musicians in my teens and could create something of my own from all that I had received.”
In Don’t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder), in addition to Carl’s original compositions, a number of covers are once again featured. Among them is the title track by Brian Wilson, from the Beach Boys’ legendary album Pet Sounds. A symphonic movement by the composer Arthur Honegger has also passed through Bagge’s pen and is interpreted by Carl’s quartet, this time joined by Jonas Kullhammar.
Carl discovered this symphony on an album of Honegger’s music and was captivated by its powerful musical language. The impression stayed with him for many years as he returned to the recording repeatedly. To his surprise, Carl discovered that his father Lars had, in a box, saved a pocket-sized score of the same symphony, which he had studied sometime in the 1950s. In a way, the circle was complete, and Carl arranged the first movement for this session. Returning to original compositions, Bill is a tribute to Bill Evans, Steve’s Rhythm honors bassist Steve Swallow, and 1980 is dedicated to Wayne Shorter.
Lineup:
Thomas Backman - Saxofoner/klarinetter, Josefine Lindstrand - Keyboards/piano/sång, Cecilia Linné - Cello/sång/gitarr, David Lindvall - Bas/keyboard, Martin Öhman - Trummor/elektronik