The pandemic obviously changed a lot of things but I’ve had no problem staying inspired during this challenging time. I’ve continued to upgrade my sound system, which is now on a new level and I’ve been listening to a lot of music at home. It’s been quite a mix and way too much to mention here. Instead, I thought I’d mention some of the records that I’ve bought during this period:

Lennart Åberg – Partial Solar Eclipse
Pål Thowsen/Jon Christensen – No Time For Time
Idris Muhammad – Power of Soul
Peter Brötzmann/Milford Graves/William Parker – Historic Music Past Tense Future
Bill Frisell – Nashville, Music Is
Gary Burton – Seven Songs for Quartet and Chamber Orchestra
Ralph Towner – My Foolish Heart
Marc Johnson – Overpass
Keith Jarrett – Budapest Concert
Marshall Allen/Roscoe Mitchell/Milford Graves/Scott Robinson – Flow States
Leandre/Maneri/Cleaver – Light and Dance
Don Cherry – The Summer House Sessions, Organic Music Theater Festival de Chateauvallon 1972
Marc Ribot – Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus
Chris Lightcap – SuperBigMouth
Fela Kuti – Live with Ginger Baker
David Virelles – Nuna, Gnosis
Michael Formanek – Other Zones
Freddie Hubbard – Skydive
Gil Evans – Svengali, Blues in Orbit
Hermeto Pasqoal – Slaves Mass
Mark Helias – Split Image
Prokofiev – Concertos (Warner)
Ravel – Complete Orchestral Works (Deutsche Grammophone)
Milton Nascimento – Angelus
Elis Regina & Toots Thielemans – Elis & Toots
Steely Dan – The Royal Scam, Katy Lied, Prezel Logic

I’ve also attended some concerts:

Broken Shadows @ Handelsbeurs, Ghent, Belgium on February 5th, 2020
Anders Kjellberg Group @ Dunkers Kulturhus, Helsingborg on September 29th, 2021 Flat Earth Society @ Inkonst, Malmö on November 22nd, 2021
Vera/Ploug/Badenhorst @ Malmö Live on March 14th, 2022
Anouar Brahem Quartet @ Ystads Teater on August 5th, 2022
London Philharmonia & Víkingur Ólafsson conducted by Santu-Matias Rouvali (Clyne: Masquerade / Adams: Must the Devil Have All the Good Tunes? / Mahler: Symphony #5) @ Royal Festival Hall, London, UK on September 22nd, 2022
Brandon Lopez/Tom Rainey/Ingrid Laubrock @ Rehab Kultur, Malmö on September 29th, 2022
Eivind Aarset Quartet @ Victoriateatern, Malmö on October 20th, 2022
David Virelles @ Coffey Street Studio, Brooklyn, USA on November 9th, 2022
La Monnaie Symphony Orchestra & Alexandra Dariescu conducted by Alain Altinoglu (Reyer: Ouverure “Sigurd” / Franck: Variations symphoniques, for piano and orchestra / Berloiz: Symphonie fantastique) @ Bozar, Brussels, Belgium on December 30th, 2022

I also purchased “Full Mantis” and “Motian in Motion”, documentaries about Milford Graves and Paul Motian, who have both been inspirational to me. And I’ve been reading “Free Play” by Stephen Nachmanovitch.

As mentioned in “Inspiration #13”, I’ve been enjoying different podcasts and during the pandemic I also discovered “Pablo Held Investigates” and “Dr. Jazz Talks”. I’ve enjoyed a lot of the interviews presented there as well as watching a lot of other documentaries/interviews online about drumming, various kinds of music, conducting, HiFi, and so on…

My first post in a LONG time. A lot has happened since my last one with the pandemic obviously affecting everyone’s lives one way or another. In my case, it didn’t change my everyday life that much. Having two small children and my job at Malmö Academy of Music to take care of, I pretty much managed to stick to my routines and could keep working although under different circumstances at times. Even with very few gigs during this time, it’s been an intense period and trying to stay on top of things have definitely been enough, even without freelancing very much.

I’m hardly performing at all right now but I have been getting back into practicing a bit more and a bit more regularly. I’m quite happy about that, consistency makes such a big difference! I’ve gotten together with percussionist/drummer Lennart Gruvstedt on a few occasions in order to ask him some specific questions regarding technique and sound which has been very rewarding and inspiring. Those are some of the topics I’m spending time on at the moment. At the drum set, I also know quite well what I want to develop and in what direction I want to go and I’m feeling inspired and focused. Things will pick up when it comes to getting back into playing with and for people. In the meantime, I spend whatever time I can to continue studying and developing on my own.

As part of my job at Malmö Academy of Music, there are two projects that I’m working on this year. I’m putting together a book of exercises with the working name “Drum Set Warm Ups”. This book will consist of exercises that I originally created for myself but that I’ve continued to develop and will introduce to students in this format. More on this in a later post.
Together with a few colleagues, I’m also part of a project where we’re each writing a chapter about our thoughts on practicing. The timing for this project turned out to be perfect for me because I’ve been thinking a lot about practicing, development and where to put your focus while getting back into more of a practice routine myself.

This spring, I’ll again be working at Malmö Stadsteater where we will be performing “Monicas Vals” for a third and final run.